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Film Newsletter and Updates: July 24, 2023

Access Is Love

In a prep call for our upcoming panel, our filmmaking team discussed how access was integrated into every stage of bringing unseen to life. Even when we had $0 in funding, we found DIY ways to make accessibility integral to our process (faulty as our rudimentary tools may have been). Our outgoing Impact Producer, Qudsiya Naqui, then reminded us: “Access Is Love.”

As Disability Pride Month culminates, we celebrate the wins made possible by community. This includes the work of filmmakers with disabilities, without which our film would not be possible. We also lift up the continued work towards disability justice, one that ensures accessibility is not a luxury but a daily act of love and solidarity. We hope that our film can serve to advance this goal, as we share Pedro’s powerful story far and wide.

P.S. Image descriptions for this newsletter are available via alt-text. Let us know how we can improve accessibility. (We really do welcome your feedback!)

Festival Circuit

After winning awards at film festivals this Spring, unseen will be making its premieres in the East Coast in the coming days:

• Woods Hole Film Festival: Northeast Premiere on Monday, July 31 at the Redfield Auditorium, 45 Water St, Woods Hole, MA 02543

• BlackStar Film Festival: Philadelphia Premiere on Sun, August 6 at the Perelman Theater on 300 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19102

As part of BlackStar Film Festival, our team will also be featured on the Disability Justice Panel, spotlighting how accessibility was a key part of our film’s creation. Co-presented by Firelight Media’s Beyond Resilience series, join us at 4pm ET after our screening.

More festival screenings are coming up this summer. Stay tuned as schedules are announced.

The Latest

• Flipping the Script on Audio Description: Describing What is Unseen features an interview with Set and Pedro on Reid My Mind Radio, hosted by unseen’s very own Accessibility Producer, Thomas Reid.

  
  

• Color Congress featured unseen for its inaugural Annual Arts Showcase, along with the film Sansón and Me (edited by our very own, Daniel Chávez-Ontiveros). In The Network of Support behind POC Filmmakers, you can read and watch the recording of this important conversation.

  
  

• After 18 months of support, our time at the Firelight Media Doc Lab has come to a beautiful conclusion. Check out what happened Behind the Scenes at Firelight Media’s Documentary Lab Retreat. We’re forever grateful for the generosity provided by the Firelight team and our cohort.

Food for Thought

Through our impact campaign, we have curated a growing list of resources on disability, immigration, and mental health. Check out some highlights below:

• Disabled Immigrants: Living on the Edge of Barbwire by our outgoing impact producer, Qudsiya Naqui

• Disability Visibility Podcast features conversations on politics, culture, and media with disabled people. Hosted by Alice Wong

• Pol(ICE) in My Head is the groundbreaking study on the mental health of undocumented youth, co-authored by our long-time supporter Alma Leyva

Lastly, we lift up the brilliant Jess Search, one of our long-time supporters at Doc Society. Jess recently wrote: “Today I am sharing that I’m currently under the care of a neurosurgeon because like 300,000 others every year around the world, I’ve been diagnosed with a brain tumour. I’m stepping back from Doc Society — after 18 years of nonstop creative collaboration, dedicated craft, joyous partying and fierce camaraderie. “

We invite you to read Jess’s powerful statement: No Time Like the Present. You can send words of affirmation to Jess and the Doc Society team at love@docsociety.org.

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