ABILITY Fest 2007

AbilityFest2007 came to a wonderful close on October 8, 2007. People of Chennai as well as from other cities watched and enjoyed films from 24 countries. Three days of non-stop viewing of films – some funny, others moving – but each and every one of them, thought provoking. 

The Festival began with two important screenings. “Nectar”, the film from UK, by Liz Crow, showcased for the first time in the country, audio description for the blind. This, with its additional options for captioned viewing as well as sign language, it is a totally accessible film. 

This was followed by the Japanese film “I Love You” by Yutaka Osawa, which was the Festival’s main inaugural feature.  A story of the evolving relationship between a deaf mother and her young hearing daughter, simply and emotionally told, was a notable film in several respects. One of the two directors was deaf, the lead actress is a deaf person, and the cast and crew comprised disabled and non-disabled persons. This film truly encapsulated the spirit of AbilityFest2007 – cinema by, with and about people with disabilities. 

Portrayal of disabled characters in cinema by non-disabled people has been the subject of long standing debate in the disability sector. At AbilityFest2007, several films were significant in that they had ‘real’ disabled people playing reel roles - the German films Die Blindganger (The Blind Fliers) and Verrückt nach Paris (Crazy About Paris) for instance. 

It was a great opportunity too, for film lovers to watch Nagesh Kukkunoor’s Hindi film”Iqbal”, and Radhamohan’s Tamil film “Mozhi”.  The subtitled prints enabled viewers to transcend the language barrier, and in a multi lingual country like India, perhaps this is food for thought for film makers and theatre owners.  

On the day of the closing – October 8, the screening of the silent classic “Shiraz” with live music by Sriram Parasuram and ensemble was an exhilarating experience to say the least and exalted every one present, to another plane altogether!  As Mr. Govind Nihalani, chairperson of the “60 seconds to Fame!” Competition said, “It was something exceptional, and history has been made here in Chennai”.

India International Disability Film Festival, held in Chennai, is organised on the lines of those held around the world in – London, Melbourne, Paris, Munich, Moscow, Calgary, Toronto & Beirut.

This path-breaking film festival was first celebrated in 2005.

AbilityFEST is a unique and inspiring showcase of extraordinary films from around the world – films by, with and about people with disabilities.

Ability Fest 2005

Ability Foundation successfully hosted the India International Disability Film Festival in July 2005 in Chennai, a port town in south India. The Film Festival was held on the lines of Disability Film Festivals abroad – in London, Melbourne, Paris, Munich, Moscow, Calgary, Toronto & Beirut. The Festival was celebrated over three days and and drew a lot of media attention. The organising committee of AbilityFEST consisted of C.K.Ranganathan - President, P.K.Nair - Director , Jayshree Raveendran - Chairperson and Actor Revathy - Vice-Chairperson.

The Inaugural Function: The Festival Book was released by Ms. Anuradha Mohit, Special Rappoteur on Disability, NHRC. This book contains vital information about the organization, conduct and the personalities involved in the Festival. Comprehensively made, it gives the general reader all that he might want to know about this unique festival, be it information on films screened, the competition films short-listed or the thinking that went into the aims of this programme. The inaugural function which lasted an hour was covered live by Doordharshan

The Festival Screenings: AbilityFEST turned out to be a unique and inspiring showcase of extraordinary films from around the world – films by, with and about people with disabilities. Over the three days, it offered to the viewers award-winning feature films, documentary films and short films, many of which have never been screened in India. The movies were introduced to the audiences and audience interaction was arranged with the makers of the films. Filmmakers Gregor Kern (of Munich Disability film Festival), Dr. Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar (Devrai), Somaratna Dissanayake (The Little Angel) and Suja (An Encounter with Life Living) were present during the screening of their films and answered questions from the audience.

The Workshop: A workshop on “Films and Disability” was held on the last day of the Festival. Several issues relating to films and disability were analysed. Participants included representatives from well-known NGOs working in the disability sector, filmmakers, critics, and the popular Tamil script-writer "Sujatha" Rangarajan. The workshop concluded with a discussion on how to make the best use of the powerful medium of cinema a tool to sensitise the public on issues of disability and make portrayals of disability in films and participation of disabled people in film-making more meaningful. It was decided that a core team would be formed to discuss these issues on an on-going basis.

The Competition Section  “60 Seconds to Fame”, it invited all Indian citizens to enter an original film lasting 1 minute on the theme "An Inclusive Society". Nearly 400 entries were received, making it a truly rewarding exercise for us. The best of those were screened  during the Festival. Five were finally voted as the best by an eminent jury comprising Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Jaya Bachchan, Nandita Das, Mani Ratinam and Rajiv Menon, Samuel Mani and Paresh Palicha.

The names of the prize-winning films and lucky winners:

Jury Special Mention Prize: