Event Information
Date:
October 4-6, 2024
Location:
Tom and Ruth Harkin Center, Auditorium (2800 University Avenue, Des Moines, IA, 50311)
Cost: Free!
Accommodations: Live-captioning in English and American Sign Language will be provided. Other accommodation requests can be made by emailing harkininstitute@drake.edu.
Event Summary
Founded in New York City in 2007, ReelAbilities is dedicated to screening films created by and about people with disabilities. In 2012, ReelAbilities began their Affiliate Festivals Program, making it possible for organizations like the Des Moines Art Center and The Harkin Institute to host ReelAbilites festivals in cities all over the world. The 2024, Des Moines festival will be a “Taste of ReelAbilities”, screening three feature films. All film screenings will be followed by a conversation with individuals from the disability community related to the specific content of the films. All films will provide open captions and have audio description capabilities.
This program is supported by the Principal® Foundation
Films were selected with the participation of the following Advisory Committee members: Lisa Donnelly, Kevin Ha, Tyler Leech, Sadie Logemann, Anna Mundy, Abby Niederhauser, Monty Nyberg, Jen Schwartz, and Nisha Suresh.
Due to the nature of the festival, ableism content warnings apply to a number of films.
Film Schedule:
OKAY! (The ASD Band Film), 2022
Friday, October 4 at 6:30 pm
OKAY! (The ASD Band Film) follows the members of ASD Band, featuring four talented individuals on the autism spectrum, as they take on the challenge of writing and recording their first album, and ultimately performing their first public show. Through a shared love of music, Rawan, Jackson, Spenser and Ron shatter the stigma of those with autism as loners, coming together to express themselves through song.
Along the way we delve into the deep corridors of their lives, as they learn to navigate a world foreign to them by finding strength in others who share the same challenges
Documentary / 1 hour 26 minutes / not rated
Language: English
Director: Mark Bone
La Lucha (The Fight), 2023
Saturday, October 5 at 1:30 pm
Feliza, Mareele, Rose Mery, and Miguel spearhead a movement advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. They gather and motivate hundreds during a 35-day, 250-mile journey across the Andes to reach the Bolivian capital, battling harsh conditions and hunger along the way. Confronting barricades, riot police, and hostility from fellow citizens, these activists persist and ultimately arrive in La Paz, rewriting national history.
Documentary / 1 hour 29 minutes / not rated *scenes of police brutality
Language: Spanish (English subtitles)
Director: Violeta Ayala
Name Me Lawand, 2022
Sunday, October 6 at 1:30 pm
Lawand is a young Kurdish boy, deaf since birth. After a treacherous journey and a year in a Dunkirk refugee camp, the help of a deaf volunteer brings his family to Derby, where Lawand joins the Royal School for the Deaf. As he grows older, the film follows his dramatic progress learning British Sign Language, revealing a bright, charismatic, and inquisitive boy who discovers friendship and a new way to express himself.
Documentary / 1 hour 31 minutes / not rated
Language: English
Director: Edward Lovelace
Address: 2800 University Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50311
Phone: (515) 271-3623
Email: harkininstitute@drake.edu
Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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