Together! 2017 Disability Film Festival

Wheelchair-using would-be assassins; framing Québec through Tactile Film; young filmmakers curated by Oscar Bright; Deaf comedy and history; a focus on Africa; and much much more…

Official selection Disability History Month Together! Festival 2017

Join us at the Old Town Hall Stratford Broadway for the sixth annual FREE Together! Disability Film Festival, which takes place from 8-10 December 2017 (full venue details below), or join us online with free links to many of the short filmsClick here to download the full programme including details of every film in PDF format, and click here to download the programme in large-print Rich Text Format (RTF).

Kills on Wheels opens the Festival on Friday 8 December at 6pm.

The Festival opens on Friday night (6-8pm) with a special screening of Kills on Wheels, Atilla Till’s highly original, darkly comedic and infectious Hungarian buddy-movie starring disabled actors about a wheelchair-using gang of assassins (2016). This special free ‘relaxed’ screening with unlimited space for wheelchair users takes place ahead of the DVD release in January 2018. (English captions; voice-over service available.) PLUS the European Premiere of Shirlyn Wong’s The Mobile Stripper. A US security guard gets more than he bargains for when he accepts a lift in a bright pink RV.

A Paradise Too Far is screened on Saturday at 6pm as part of the UK: Québec Connections project with East London.

On Saturday 9 December the festival re-opens with Transatlantic Vibrations: Connecting East London & Québec through Film & Digital Art from 12-2pm. This interactive lunchtime session introduces Together! 2012 CIC’s two-year international project using tactile technology to enhance the audience experience, in partnership with Concordia University’s Mobile Media Lab in Montreal. Includes UK & Canadian screenings, a Q&A session & a practical demonstration of ‘vibraseating’. With BSL interpretation. Refreshments provided. At 6pm we return to Québec for the European Premiere of Denis Langlois’ Y’est où le paradis? / A Paradise Too Far (2017). In deepest winter in Northern Québec, two siblings seek the hunting and fishing paradise Matchi Manitou and their dead mother. Presented as part of the UK: Québec Connections programme, funded by the British Council. There will also be a two-day tactile filmmaking workshop for disabled filmmakers on 7 & 8 December: contact film@together2012.org.uk / 07973 252751 for more information and to book.

Saturday screenings also include:

Aarg! is screened in the Discover Oscar Bright programme on Saturday at 2pm.

2pm: Celebrating Young Filmmakers: Discover Oscar Bright — Short films by emerging filmmakers with learning difficulties from the UK, Canada and the Netherlands, curated by the 2017 Oscar Bright Film Festival.

2:45pm: Animate! The best of new animation by Deaf & Disabled filmmakers from the UK & Ireland.

The Unknown is screened at 3.15pm on Saturday as part of Focus on Africa for International Day of Disabled People.

3:15 pm: International Day of Disabled People: Focus on Africa with My Right to a Future – Bruna Martini’s short documentary about the barriers facing disabled school students in Tanzania (2017); and the London premiere of Aggie Nyagari’s The Unknown, a feature-length drama about Grace, a school student with cerebral palsy facing accusations of witchcraft in Kenya (2017).

5pm: Short Dramas from the UK, US & France.

Deaf Victorians is screened on Sunday at 2.30pm to celebrate Disability History Month.

SUNDAY 10 DECEMBER:

12noon: Artists Films & Videos. Films by and about Deaf and Disabled artists from the UK.

1.45pm: Different Voices: Short Docs from the UK. Includes Norma McGilp’s 2017 BSL Zone film Deaf Victorians to celebrate Disability History Month at 2.30pm.

Switch & Shift screens in the Dance! programme on Sunday at 3.15pm.

3.15pm: Dance! Documentaries and Dance Films from the UK, New Zealand & Tahiti. Includes short films by Roswitha Chesher, Joel Morrison, Romola Lang and Alyx Duncan, and Jacques Navarro-Rovira’s 2017 feature Alors on danse about integrated dance in Tahiti.

4.45pm: Comedy Hour: Deaf Funny The new sketch show from BSL Zone about Deaf life in the UK. In BSL with English captions; voice-over service available.

British Winters closes the festival at 6pm on Sunday 10 December 2017.

The Festival closes with the London Premiere of British Winters (6-8pm). A debut film from North Wales, British Winters is the gripping story of one man’s struggle with life and his place in the world.  Procrastinator Noel Winters may be surrounded by friends and family but he’s lonely, disenchanted and, frankly, lazy. Disillusioned with himself as much as the outside world, he draws inspiration from his younger adopted sister, Hannah, who becomes a beacon of hope in a world Noel finds increasingly challenging. Forced to confront his life and everyone in it, Noel finally makes a life-­changing decision. But will it be the right one? Created at TAPE Community Music and Film, British Winters was made possible thanks to a team of volunteer actors and artists who have all brought Noel’s story to life; more than half needed additional support to participate.

The Toilet is screened as part of the Animate! programme on Saturday at 2.45pm.

Please note the following:

  • Our cinema is ‘pop-up’ to enable a range of seating and unlimited space for wheelchair users.
  • All screenings are ‘relaxed’ and a minimal lighting level is maintained.
  • The venue is wheelchair accessible. We provide live audio-description on demand including for people who have difficulties reading captions.
  • Tickets are FREE and no booking is required.
  • 6pm screenings are for age 15+ with parental/guardian guidance only. Parents are welcome to bring children with them during the daytime, but the programmes are aimed at adults.

Who are we now? is screened on Sunday at 1.45pm as part of the Different Voices programme.

The Together! Disability Film Festival is the only UK disability film festival that covers all impairment groups, including disabled people with physical and sensory conditions, learning difficulties, mental health difficulties and long-term health conditions. We re-release the programme with the addition of links to available online versions and trailers each morning, and these remain online in our archive as a  portal to Disability Film for programmers and scholars. You can find further details of previous years’ programmes via the Archive section of this website.

Noix Rouge is screened in the Short Dramas programme on Saturday at 5pm.

We include films made on every budget. Our priority is to provide a platform for strong storytelling, highlighting the lived experiences of disabled people from diverse backgrounds and the talents of community, emerging and mid-career disabled filmmakers. Many of our films are world or international premieres, and go on to festivals worldwide.

Old Town Hall, 29 The Broadway, Stratford, London E15 4BQ. 020 3373 7033 /07791 291 685. Nearest tube, overground and DLR stations: Stratford (fully accessible). Bus routes include 25, 69, 86, D8, 104, 108, 158, 238, 241, 257, 262, 276, 308, 425, 473, N8, N86, 010, A9, 741 & UL1. Blue Badge holders can prebook parking; others are advised to use the (old) Stratford shopping centre carpark and cross straight through the centre (the Old Town Hall is opposite the far entrance). Click here for further details and images.