An illustrated talk + ECLECTIC: Shorts Programme, an evening celebrating Disability visibility and filmmaking.
Andrew Miller MBE and current chair of the BFI’s Disability Screen Advisory Group will introduce the weekend of Busting the Bias. We open with a keynote speech from Kyla Harris, who will be taking over as chair of the BFI’s Disability Screen Advisory Group later this year. Kyla will talk about the future aims and ambitions of the group, alongside her vision for creating intersectional approaches to Disability alliance.
This will be followed by an Illustrated Talk with Ella Glendining and hosted by director of BFI film fund Mia Bays. Ella is fresh from her Sundance premiere of her first feature film Is There Anybody Out There? Born with a disability so rare that no reliable statistics for it exist, filmmaker Ella Glendining wonders if there is anyone who can share the experience of living in a body like hers. This simple question, one which nondisabled people so often take for granted, leads to a journey to not only others who live like her, but to the realisation that meeting them changes how she sees herself in the world, as well as many surprises on this journey. This exciting talk will shine a light on the themes explored within this documentary and Ella’s experience as a disabled filmmaker.
Ella Glendining is a Writer/Director dedicated to telling authentic disabled stories. Her first feature film, Is There Anybody Out There? premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2023 as part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition. Ella has written/directed short films with backing from Film4, the BFI, Arts Council England, Screen South, and the National Paralympic Heritage Trust. Ella was named one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow 2020. She is currently writing a feature fiction film called Curiosities of Fools for the BFI.
Mia Bays is a creative producer, distribution strategist and positive disruptor in film. She’s been in the film industry for 30 years in 2021 working on 150+ features in both fiction and documentary. Mia then resurrected charity Birds’ Eye View, one of the only film festivals showing only films by women from 2003-14. She turned it into one of the UK’s leading gender equality agitators in film, setting up #ReclaimTheFrame the mission to bring ever greater audiences to films by women which is a UK wide 15-cities-and-counting project backed by lottery funds from the BFI. Mia produced Sundance Film Festival London for the last 3 years 2018-21 and is now Director of the Film Fund at the BFI.
Closing the session will be ECLECTIC, a specially curated shorts programme curated by deafblind access consultant Charlie Little, exploring a range of genres and Disability storytelling.
Imagination (2016) Dir Jemima Hughes, 4 mins. Animation
Finding the outside world dull and cold, our protagonist and narrator visit an exhibition in a local art gallery.
My Eyes Are Up Here (2022) Dir Nathan Morris, 13 mins. Narrative
A broken condom forces a woman — and her one-night stand — on a mission to the chemist for the morning-after pill.
Call Us Criptic (2020) Dir Kyla Harris, Ella Glendining, Jessi Gutch, 16 mins. Documentary
A behind the scenes look at the run up to the Barbican show in 2021, focusing on the showcased artists’ experiences of ableism in the arts sector and how they’re using art to overcome prejudice and inaccessibility.
Louder Is Not Always Clearer (2021)
Dir Toby Cameron, 17 mins. Narrative
This short tells Jonny’s story of disconnection, difference, and desperation to belong.
Verisimilitude (2020)
Dir David Proud, 13 mins. Comedy
A short film about Bella, an unemployed disabled actress.
All films will be presented with descriptive subtitles for the D/deaf and people experiencing hearing loss with audio description available. All spoken word parts of the event will have live-captioning and BSL interpretation.
BUSTING THE BIAS
Busting the Bias Opening Night: Is There Anybody Out There? An illustrated talk + ECLECTIC: Shorts Programme
Fri 3 Mar 18:00
Library Event: Reimagined Cinema
Sat 4 Mar 14:00 BFI Reuben Library
Shy Radicals + intro and discussion
Sat 4 Mar 16:00 BFI Reuben Library
Nothing about Us without Us: Celebrating 5 years of BFI’s Disability Screen Advisory Group
Sun 5 Mar 14:00
I Didn’t See You There + pre-recorded Q&A
Sun 5 Mar 16:00
FLARE: We Have Always Been Here!
Film curator Tara Brown leads an in-depth panel discussion about the intersections of queerness, disability and film.
Sat 18 Mar 16:30
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Programme notes and credits compiled by the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
Questions/comments? Contact the Programme Notes team by email