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Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival

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2025 Short Film Competition

Thank you to our panel of volunteer judges!

Winners: Non-Documentary Division

1st Place: Dreamscapes
Dir: Rachel Gray
Dreamscapes is a genre-blurring experimental film exploring mental health not as a diagnosis, but as a shifting inner reality—at once painful, beautiful, glamorous and strange. Centered on a powerful performance by Amelia Rose Griffin, the film transforms her lived experience into movement, colour, and sound. Dreamscapes gives voice to experiences that are often hidden because of shame, stigma and silence.

2nd Place: Take Care
Dir: Gilli Messer
A film crew documents Jo's journey to hire a caretaker...against her will. Along the way, Jo not only finds an awesome caretaker in Nat, but also a true buddy.

3rd Place: In Case of Fire
Dir: Spencer Price Sherwin
A disabled college student gets stuck on the second floor of a library with a bomb and an elevator that doesn't work

Winners: Documentary Division

1st Place: Simple Machine
Dir: Sara Hendren
Simple Machine is part portrait of an architect who became an amputee in midlife, and part meditation on the beauty and challenges of classical mechanics in the ingenious tools of our everyday lives. The film reframes assistive technologies in the adapted wood shop of one man, but it also sets his story against the history of post-war prosthetics, industrial manufacturing, and the irreducible complexity of life with machines.

2nd Place: Living Proof
Dir: Viktor Ilyukhin & Olga Lvoff
Living Proof is an intimate short film that highlights the lives of Paris and Engelic, two strong leaders and advocates within their disability communities. Paris, driven by spirituality, and Engelic, a talented writer, demonstrate the boundlessness of ambition and creative expression, empowering their communities and beyond to lead with purpose.

3rd Place and Audinece Favorite: Quad Life
Dir: Joyce Tsang
A young father’s world flips upside down after an accident. This is his story of reinvention as he chases normal and navigates life as a creative and quadriplegic sound designer.

Finalists: Non-Documentary Division

Gum
Dir: Belal Albader
A child with Down syndrome, falls in love for the first time in his life and begins a journey of new emotions he never knew existed, this forces him to make decisions he was not ready to take.

Refrain
Dir: Benjamin Anthony Slusarczyk
A deaf maximum security prisoner undergoes an experimental medical procedure to acquire early release and be reunited with his daughter, however the procedure doesn't go to plan and the man is left with unintended consequences.

Finalists: Documentary Division

Different All My Life
Dir: Justin R MacFayden
Different All My Life tells the inspiring story of Sherry, a talented singer whose life has been defined by perseverance and courage in the face of adversity. Overcoming childhood speech impediments, hearing impairments, and the societal prejudices surrounding disability, Sherry has fought fiercely to share her voice and music with the world. Despite facing health setbacks that silenced her singing for years and encountering rejection rooted in stigma, she never surrendered her passion. Through heartfelt performances—whether on stage, online, or simply from her open window—Sherry connects deeply with her audience, no matter how small. Dreaming of greater recognition yet grounded in profound humility, she finds success in the authenticity of her music and the kindness she strives to embody. Ultimately, this documentary is a tribute to the quiet courage required to embrace one's differences and the universal power of music to create belonging.

Grandpa has a broken eye and mom is an adventure
Dir: Marita Mayer
“How can you think if you cannot speak?” Four kids, age 5 to 15, share their thoughts on aphasia and show us how they communicate and interact with someone, who has difficulties expressing themselves verbally.

Pathfinder
Dir: Viktor Ilyukhin & Olga Lvoff
Pathfinder is a short documentary that follows Frank and Carrie, two residents of Pathfinder, a unique open-access community for individuals with Down syndrome. The film challenges common assumptions about the relationship between Down syndrome and dementia, offering a humanizing portrayal of both protagonists as they and their families navigate complexities of aging and disability. The film highlights the vital role of family and community in providing unwavering support, and underscores the importance of affirming the integrity, intelligence, and autonomy of individuals living with Down syndrome.

Semi-finalists: Non-Documentary Division

Arletta.
Dir: Montana James Miller

Between Us
Dir: Colin Miller

The Chastening
Katy Harney

deaf vs. dead
Dir: Elissa Weir, Sydney Cremasco

Down in Flames
Dir: Vanessa Ellis

Fucking Boobs e Mani a Terra
Dir: Paolo Cipolletta

The Long Face
Dir: Nick Buggey

I See Dark
Dir: Domingo Pisón Capellán

moss time, crip time
Dir: Cynthia Ling Lee

Shall We Rise Togehter?
Dir: Vasco Mendes

The Walking List
Dir: Dylan Wood, John Wee

Wherever That May Be
Dir: E.N. Cole

Semi-finalists: Documentary Division

Angels on Earth
Dir: Viktor Ilyukhin & Olga Lvoff

Beyond the Gaze
Dir: Arianna Bardesono

Create That World
Dir: Viktor Ilyukhin & Olga Lvoff

The Connect Project
Dir: Kanika Gupta, Jenelle Rouse

Fantastic Captain
Dir: Jean-Francois Castell

It's Something About Pumpkin
Dir: Peter Craig

Matthew part 2
Dir: John Steven Schaffer

Mike's Journey
Dir: Alexandra Henry

Sin Voz
Dir: John Grant Knaus

Tell Me What I See
Andres Schille

Unicorns Can Skate
Dires Vanherwegen

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Short Film Competition History

In 2007, CTD introduced the Student Film Competition to Cinema Touching Disability. In only a few years, it has become arguably the most popular element of the Festival! The vision behind the Competition is to encourage and empower emerging filmmakers to generate innovative film that addresses social, cultural, and personal perceptions about and experiences with disability. Volunteer judges select the first, second, and third place winners in both categories and a poll during the Festival determines the Audience Favorites. Winners enjoy cash and prizes, interviews with local media outlets, and a public screening of their film at the Festival. Right: CTD's Dennis Borel presents director Debbie Finley with the Grand Prize (Emerging Division) award for MIND OVER POLIO, a documentary featuring Charlotte Ferris (seated).

The first year of the Competition, Josh Tate's FORGOTTEN LIVES, a highly acclaimed documentary about abuse of people with disabilities in state schools, took the Grand Prize (College Division).

Judge Chris Garcia, then a film critic for the Austin American-Statesman, called the film "truly eye opening and alarming...smartly and lucidly crafted." Left: Borel with the 2007 College division winners, Josh Tate, Sergio Carvajal, J. Anthony Hernandez, and others.

Zach Anner, a person with cerebral palsy featured in FORGOTTEN LIVES, went on to national stardom with his television show, The Real Zack Anner. Anner won a national competition for potential television show hosts, held by the Oprah Winfrey Network, but he started with Cinema Touching Disability!

Tate went on to win the 2015 Competition's Grand Prize (narrative division) with his short, GUEST ROOM, also an official selection at that year's SXSW Film Festival.

During the following few year years, the Competition began to receive more and more excellent films, many from local filmmakers and organizations. Some of our early Competition winners include the Capital Area Boy Scouts (2007), ADAPT of Texas (2008), and several area high school students. We also attracted the attention of young filmmakers from outside of Texas, like Drew Goldsmith, whose shorts have appeared on the PBS documentary series POV (2008, 2011), and students from the Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts (2010). Right: Borel presents the 2008 Grand Prize (High School division) plaque to Michael Espinoza for his short "THE WAR TO END ALL WARS."

As the years have passed, Cinema Touching Disability has evolved the Competition to better suit our vision. For example, initially, the Competition was aimed at high school and college students, but in 2009, we opened it up to filmmakers of all ages. That year, we began to receive films from outside the United States, including Grand Prize winner (Emerging division), MON AMI CLAUDE, from Canada. With the incorporation of an online submission system a few years later, we saw increased participation from entrants all over the world. Now, filmmakers from outside the US routinely place as finalists or winners in our Competition. Grand prize winners in 2013 and 2014 for example, came all the way from Australia and Turkey, respectively. At our most recent Festival, winning entries arrived from the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, and Australia. Left (last one on this page): Still from 2013 Grand Prize winner and Audience Favorite "BE MY BROTHER, submitted by Genevieve Clay of Australia.

CTD is proud that our Short Film Competition not only has grown to allow us to share the best disability shorts in the world with our audience; it also draws international attention to Austin as a disability film hub.

The Cinema Touching Disability Short Film Competition is your opportunity to share your view of disability with our audience. We want interesting, imaginative, and creative representations of disability on film. All filmmakers, including professional, independent, amateur, secondary level school, and university students, are encouraged to submit their own representations of disability.

View past years' results

• 2024 Competition Results   
• 2023 Competition Results
• 2022 Competition Results
• 2021 Competition Results
• 2020 Competition Results
• 2019 Competition Results
• 2018 Competition Results
• 2017 Competition Results
• 2016 Competition Results
• 2015 Competition Results
• 2014 Competition Results
• 2013 Competition Results
• 2012 Competition Results
• 2011 Competition Results
• 2010 Competition Results
• 2009 Competition Results
• 2008 Competition Results
• 2007 Competition Results