Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival

21st annual Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival, September 27 & 28, 2024, The Long Center

The Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival and Short Film Competition aims to change the picture of disability through film. The top cinematic celebration of disability in the state, the Festival features the work of independent filmmakers from around the world, from documentaries to animated shorts to the avant-garde. The two-day event provides a unique and entertaining way to positively and accurately view disability.

2024 Festival Wrap-up

In 2024, Cinema Touching Disability enjoyed another successful season at the beautiful Long Center in Austin, Texas. On September 27th and 28th, friends of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities gathered for live music, exciting short films, and filmmaker Q&As.

Photo of the theater. People in chairs and wheelchairs sit around small tables. Caption reads: flexible seating at the Long Center. Photo credit Michael Ward

Each night, attendees enjoyed a pre-show from Gretchen McMahon, a local musician with a disability. Gretchen is a multi-instrumentalist with a genre-bending style that explores five hundred years of music in five minutes, rooted in folk, world, jazz and Celtic sounds.

Gretchen McMahon playing the harp. Photo credit Mike MicDiarmid

Her performances were amplified in the theater and in the lobby, so attendees could enjoy the music whether they were grabbing a drink, browsing our Disabilities throughout History information displays (provided by the Texas Medical Association), or checking their voter registration with our Volunteer Deputy Registrar.

Fest attendees reading the Disabilities throughout History banner. Photo credit Michael Ward

Another highlight of this year’s festival was the announcement of the second annual Gene Rodgers Creative Advocacy Award, a new tradition honoring our beloved friend Gene Rodgers and his many unique contributions to the world of disability advocacy. This year’s recipients were Kristen Gooch and Liz Ross, co-founders of TUBU Fest. TUBU Fest (Theater For Us By Us) is a community oriented short play festival based in Austin, Texas. It is a safe space for people with disabilities to have their voices heard through artwork, and exemplifies the combination of creativity and advocacy this award was created to recognize.

Kristen Gooch holding her award. Photo credit Mike McDiarmid

We opened each night with a selection of shorts from both the documentary and non-documentary categories. These selected shorts blocks gave viewers a taste of the diversity of entries we received, from heart-warming student projects to heart-pounding crime stories. Check out this year’s full line up here.

The 17 winners and finalists featured in this year’s Fest speak to the wide range of experiences people with disabilities have. Stories included:

Still from these are the sounds I make. A young woman speaks into a microphone.

On Friday night, we closed the evening with our three documentary winners. First place and Audience Favorite in Friday’s documentary category was TURN UP THE BASS, a high energy profile of Troi Lee, aka DJ Chinaman, the unstoppable force behind the UK's deaf music and rave scene. Two decades of archive footage charts Troi’s journey from an underground raver to a festival headliner, putting on a 20-year anniversary show in London that showcases deaf and disabled dancers, MCs, rappers and sign singers.

Still from Turn Up The Bass. DJ Chinaman stands in front of graffiti

Saturday featured our three non-documentary winners, and first place went to MO<3KYRA, a sweet teen rom-com from the UK. Mo has a crush on the new student, a fashionable girl who runs a social media account about living with a disability. At their last school dance, Mo enlists the help of a few friends to win Kyra’s <3.

Still from Mo<3Kyra. A young woman in a sparkling dress stands in the spotlight at a school dance.

We closed Saturday evening with a live Q&A with the local filmmaking team behind 3rd place non-documentary winner and Audience Favorite, EXISTING PATIENT. This short, which features a chronically ill woman fighting to get her medication approved, struck a chord with our audience. Many attendees found the topic relatable and expressed gratitude to our panelists, director Aaron Abolt, actor Jenn Covington, and editor/composer Leif Steenson, for bringing stories like these to the screen. Abolt ended the Q&A with some inspiring words to hopeful filmmakers in the crowd.

Still from Existing Patient. A woman gardens while smiling widely. Left, Jenn Covington, middle, Leif Steenson, right, Aaron Abolt. Photo credit Mike McDiarmid

You can find the full results of our short film competition here

This year, we expanded the festival with a satellite screening hosted by the local organization Hyperreal Film Club. Hyperreal is a community-based non-profit that screens cult, genre, arthouse, and independent cinema with a special emphasis on supporting up-and-coming filmmakers. Cinema Touching Disability collaborated with Hyperreal on a screening of one of our semi-finalists in the feature category, FANTASY A GETS A MATTRESS. The filmmaking team came in from Seattle for a lively screening of their ensemble comedy about real life autistic rapper, Fantasy A, and his odyssey to achieve fame and find a good mattress.

Fantasy A introducing his film. Photo credit Hyperreal Film Club.

The festival received glowing feedback from our audience survey this year. One attendee said the festival was “so uplifting, I already know I am more accepting of my ‘limitations’, even actually embracing them.” Another reported that attending the festival made them want to make their own film!

Thank you for a great fest to our sponsors, volunteers, audience, guests, and short film competition judges; we’ll see y’all in 2025!

About Cinema Touching Disability

Praised by the Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities, the Austin Mayor's Committee on People with Disabilities, the Texas Film Commission, and the Austin Film Society, Cinema Touching Disability is informative and refreshing for all audiences. The Festival provides audiences with the opportunity to enjoy films that can’t otherwise be seen on the big screen. We offer unique evenings with wrap-around experiences inspired by the films, like live entertainment, art, and conversations.

Stay in touch! Get the latest all year through Cinema Touching Disability News, our free e-newsletter, with exclusive interviews and insightful analysis of recent popular film releases from a disability perspective. For updates about this year's program, featured guests, the short film competition, and more Festival highlights, follow us on Facebook - Twitter - Instagram.

The Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival is a program of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities. One in five Texans has a disability, and CTD works to ensure that we may work, live, learn, play and participate fully in the communities of our choice. CTD’s statewide priorities include independent living, attendant wages and other services, civil rights, employment, and access to healthcare and medications. 

Learn more about the history of the Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival and Short Film Competition.

Films

The 2024 film lineup:

Film Fest Tickets

CTDFF 2024 Tickets

Tickets are priced on a sliding scale starting at $5. Incidental costs like parking, snacks, and drinks are not included in the ticket. If cost is a barrier, you can request comped tickets by emailing filmfest@txdisabilities.org.

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