Theatre

Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty Right Now (Kanopy)
"Sins Invalid witnesses a performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and queer and gender-variant artists. Since 2006, its performances have explored themes of sexuality, beauty, and the disabled body, impacting thousands through live performance. Sins Invalid is as an entryway into the absurdly taboo topic of sexuality and disability, manifesting a new paradigm of disability justice."

Gen Silent: Discrimination Against LGBT Seniors (Kanopy)
"The generation that fought hardest to come out of the closet is going back in to survive. What would you do if you were old, disabled or ill – and the person feeding you put down the spoon and said that you are going to hell unless you change your sexual preference? Sound absurd? Social workers around the world say it’s happening every day."

Where Is Hope - The Art of Murder: Police Brutality Against People With Disabilities (Kanopy)
"It is estimated that over 50 percent of the victims of police brutality and police killings nationally have a disability that contributed to the incident. Disability is glazed over or not recorded in the official police reports. Nor is the fact adequately represented in the media and even in popular movement around this issue of police brutality in general. It informs us that for them, disability doesn’t matter. But clearly disability does matter, and this documentary project makes that statement loud and clear."

The Way We Talk: Living with a Stutter (Kanopy)
"Michael Turner struggles with one of medical science’s most baffling and enduring disabilities—he stutters. On the surface, stuttering is syllable repetitions, prolongations, blocks, and various physical tics. But as he illustrates in The Way We Talk, stuttering is like an iceberg, with the major symptoms below the surface. Emotions caused by the disorder— anxiety, depression, denial, and a negative self-image—are rarely confronted in speech therapy or even by people who stutter. Turner explores his own experiences with stuttering and presents the stories of others who are part of the self-help movement within the stuttering community—stories that are relatable to anyone who has experienced feelings of separateness, isolation, or inadequacy in any area their life, and are trying to make the most of who they are."

A Time for Drunken Horses (Kanopy)
"A Time for Drunken Horses follows the heart-wrenching drama of a Kurdish family living on the Iran-Iraq border. The only work available in this poverty-stricken locale is to smuggle goods between the countries, through hills stalked by armed bandits. These dangers rob Ayoub (Ayoub Ahmadi), Amaneh (Amaneh Ekhtiar-dini), Rojin (Rojin Younessi) and the developmentally disabled Madi (Madi Ekhtiar-dini) of their parents, and they are forced to fend for themselves."

Fixed: The Science/Fiction of Human Enhancement (Kanopy)
"From botox to bionic limbs, the human body is more “upgradeable” than ever. But how much of it can we alter and still be human? What do we gain or lose in the process? Award-winning documentary, FIXED: The Science/Fiction of Human Enhancement, explores the social impact of human biotechnologies. Haunting and humorous, poignant and political, FIXED rethinks "disability" and "normalcy" by exploring technologies that promise to change our bodies and minds forever."

Wretches and Jabberers (Kanopy)
"In Wretches and Jabberers, two men with autism embark on a global quest to change attitudes about disability and intelligence. Determined to put a new face on autism, Tracy Thresher, 42, and Larry Bissonnette, 52, travel to Sri Lanka, Japan and Finland. At each stop, they dissect public attitudes about autism and issue a hopeful challenge to reconsider competency and the future."

Best Boy (Kanopy)
"Best Boy tells the story of Philip “Philly” Wohl, a 50-year-old mentally retarded man who has spent most of his life living at home with his parents in Queens, NY. Philly is a gentle soul who is greatly loved by his family, but also over-protected by them. Philly's parents, Max and Pearl, both in their 70s, worry about what will happen to Philly when they are gone, but despite their concern about his future well-being, they have not prepared themselves or Philly for that time. Never, that is, until a cousin—filmmaker Ira Wohl—becomes involved, starting Philly on a journey toward greater independence and a life beyond the home of his parents. Philly is granted access to a world outside the family home, an experience that both challenges and delights him. He forms a circle of support and friends, who become his "extended family.” The film—which spans four years—culminates in Philly moving into a group home with other developmentally disabled adults."

Best Man (Kanopy)
"The second installment in the “Best Boy” trilogy, Best Man, was released in 1997, twenty years after Best Boy. Best Man picks up the thread of Philly's story when he is 70 years old and shows how he has not only survived, but thrived in the independent environment he found at the end of Best Boy. Still living in the same group home, Philly is supported by the staff there, the staff at his day center, the friends with whom he now lives, and the ongoing love he receives from his sister, Frances. Whether it be at his day center, in his Jewish cultural activities or at inter-group-home dances and events, it is also clear that his social life and interpersonal relationships have improved greatly."

Best Sister (Kanopy)
"Best Sister completes the “Best Boy” trilogy of films. Released by filmmaker Ira Wohl in 2006, eight years after Best Man and 28 years after Best Boy, Best Sister concludes the story of adult, developmentally disabled Philly Wohl and his family. Philly's life hasn’t changed much in the eight years since Best Man; he is still the happy, relatively healthy man at 78 that he was at 70. For his sister Frances, however, life has changed considerably. Frances, who has been Philly's sole link to his original family since the death of their parents, is now 80 and finds herself unable to do many of the things she did before, especially when it comes to caring for Philly."

Including Samuel (Kanopy)
"Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. Shot and produced over four years, Habib’s award-winning documentary film, INCLUDING SAMUEL, chronicles the Habib family’s efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family’s hopes and struggles, as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. INCLUDING SAMUEL is a highly personal, passionately photographed film that captures the cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion."

2e: Twice Exceptional: Gifted Children With Learning Disabilities (Kanopy)
"2e: Twice Exceptional examines the concept of “twice exceptionality” – gifted or highly gifted children with learning disabilities and/or differences. Some have trouble interpreting social cues and processing visual and auditory information. Others have difficulty with time management and organization; they may finish their homework but routinely forget to turn it in. Some have been labeled as “underachievers” and “lazy”, accused of just not trying hard enough."