The 8th London International Disability Film Festival

[Guest guest]

The 8th London International Disability Film Festival

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94855.php

Launched in 1999, the Disability Film Festival has grown in size,

quality and impact every year. In 2005 the festival comprised 47

events over five days with audiences totalling 2,600. This year it

returns to BFI Southbank with a new creative team and a host of

fresh ideas to put it firmly back on the map. The festival has

served as a model for other Disability Film Festivals in Finland,

Canada, Greece and Turkey and we are delighted that our refurbished

venue offers complete disabled access.

Highlights from this year's programme include the subversive yet

amusing feature Special People (2007) and the thought provoking

documentary I Want To Tell You Something (2006), which examines a

family of four who all communicate through sign language even though

only one of their sons is deaf. Other titles include a landmark

screening of the controversial drama The Silent Twins (1986), buried

in the BBC vaults for over 20 years; Coming Down the Mountain

(2007), a twisted tale of brotherly love from the pen of Mark

Haddon; a Q with the visually impaired film-maker Raina Haig and a

workshop on DIY distribution in the digital age. The Festival is

complemented with a range of short film programmes from around the

world.

To celebrate this year's Festival, the Mediatheque at BFI Southbank

presents Double the Trouble, Twice the Fun. This groundbreaking

programme tackles a subject rarely addressed in our culture or

media: the representation of sexuality for those with physical and

learning disabilities. Bringing together 20 dramas, cutting-edge

television documentaries and intimate short films, this collection

challenges the preconceptions of the able-bodied and demonstrates

that disability is not an automatic bar to a healthy sex life.

Highlights for this year

OPENING NIGHT: Special People

A pretentious film-maker finds his attempts to make an uplifting

hymn to the human spirit thwarted by the group of wheelchair-using

teens he's teaching. Smart, funny and subversive with just a hint of

romance for Valentine's Night, Special People is that rarest of

beasts; a feel-good comedy that doesn't rot your teeth!

Thu 14 Feb 18:45 NFT1

I Want To Tell You Something

I Want to Tell You Something Ich muss dir was sagen

Four-year-old twins Oskar and Leo share everything. Even a common

language their parents struggle to learn. Oskar's deaf, Leo's not,

and their hearing parents have decided to raise both boys in what

for them is a foreign language: sign language. Over the course of a

year, Nguyen's documentary reveals the highs and lows of

family life.

Fri 15 Feb 13:50 NFT2

The Silent Twins

Landmark screening of this controversial drama, buried in the BBC

vaults for over 20 years. Followed by a Q with Marjorie Wallace

Fri 15 Feb 18:00 NFT2

Coming Down the Mountain

" I didn't plan to kill him… That sounds stupid given everything that

happened, but… It's not like I sat down and thought, 'I'm going to

murder my brother'. Things just… got out of hand. " A twisted tale of

brotherly love from Mark Haddon - author of The Curious Incident Of

The Dog In The Night-time - with terrific performances from

Hoult (Skins and About a Boy) and Tommy Jessop.

For more information please visit http://www.bfi.org.uk