Documentaries on Disability Policy

The videos selected for this section represents what may be the most difficult task in creating disability media: producing a comprehensive in-depth look at a particular country and/or issue while remaining sufficiently general to appeal to a wide audience.

  1. Alternativas en Rehabilitación (Alternatives in Rehabilitation). The United Nations' Programme of Action for People with Disabilities identifies three kinds of interventions: prevention, rehabilitation, and provision of equal opportunities. Rehabilitation, it maintains, is a limited span and scope programme focused on allowing a person with disabilities to reach her/his best physical, mental and social potential. The goals of rehabilitation are not only medical, but also include technical help, self-care, and work-related rehabilitation services. The video shows the needs for co-operation among the different areas and disciplines of rehabilitation and, therefore, of the different institutions involved. Spanish, 20 minutes, produced in 1990. Subtitled version also available. - Available from: Real Patronato de Prevención y de Atención a Personas con Minusvalía, Serrano 140, 28006 Madrid, Spain
  2. Circling the Dragon Produced in 1995 for the BBC by a British disabled media specialist, Rosalie Wilkins, this programme is an overview of how the situation of disabled people in China has changed since the advent of the Chinese Disabled People's Federation, under the leadership of Deng Pufang. It explores urban and rural situations, covering legislation, rehabilitation, education and employment measures. British specialists on China interpret some observations and events. 60 minutes. - Available from:BBC Videos for Education and Training, 80 Wood Lane , London W12 0TT, UK Fax: 44 181 576 2916.
  3. Special Needs Education: Access and Quality is a 55 minute video that documents and discusses the issues and viewpoints from the 1995 conference in Salamanca, Spain. The UNESCO Salamanca Conference supported the inclusion of children with disabilities in regular education. This video is available in English, French and Spanish. - Available from: UNESCO, Special Needs Education, Division of Basic Education, 7 Place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07-SP FRANCE. Fax: 33 1 45 68 56 31.
  4. The Gospel According to Berkeley is a documentary produced in 1992 for the BBC by its disability unit and represents a collaboration among British and US disability activists to trace the history and international growth of its philosophy and development of independent living services. It focuses on the 20 year history of the movement, founded in Berkeley, California and illustrates its international adaptation in Estonia, Mexico and Japan. 60 minutes. - Available from: BBC Videos for Education and Training, 80 Wood Lane, London, W12 OTT, U.K.
  5. Three X Twenty - a True Story of Health, Independence and Disability is a documentary that portrays three Australians with disability who are involved in a unique project to increase their independence. It is also an award winner from RI's World Congress Film Festival in Kenya. - Available from: Yooralla Society of Victoria, 52 Thistlethwaite Street, South Melbourne, Victoria 3205 Australia .
  6. My Country Produced in 1996 on the topic of the Americans with Disabilities Act, this 50 minute film was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice. Intended as further public education about the intent and practical applications of the law, the film was broadcast throughout the USA in 1997 on PBS stations. The straightforward format is designed around the lives of three disabled Americans and how they have been impacted by civil rights laws: a blind woman of Mexican and indigenous background, a black judge who uses a wheelchair and a man who spent most of his life in an institution because he was diagnosed as mentally incompetent. Additional impact is provided by a powerful introduction and narration by James DuPreis, the nephew of Marion Anderson, one of America's foremost black opera singers, who suffered many incidences of prejudice. DuPreis became one America's first black symphony conductors. - Available from Phyllis Ward & Associates, Access Video: 4400 McArthur Boulevard, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20007, USA. Tel. 1 202 965 1500.
  7. Report from Thailand and the Philippines: Asia/Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons An informative, open-captioned 20 minute public education video reporting on a variety of projects for children and adults under the auspices of the Asia/Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons begun in 1993. Provides a basic overview of the objectives of the Decade and brief segments shot on site of projects for and by disabled persons in Thailand and the Philippines. It includes an accessibility project, support for self-help associations and a unique series of child rehabilitation centers administered by an organisation of disabled adults. The video was supported by RNN, the public education arm of the Decade, sponsored by the Japanese National Federation of Workers & Consumers Insurance Cooperatives and Produced by the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons. - Available from :JSRD, 1-22-1, Toyama 1 chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162, Japan. Tel: 81-3-5400-91/92; Fax: 81-3-5400-1638.
  8. Nobody's Burning Wheelchairs is a 15 minute video that effectively links information about attitudinal barriers and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It provides an overview of the ADA and features a talented comedienne with a hearing impairment, Kathy Buckley as well as Chris OâDonoghue, a TV news reporter who uses a wheelchair. This video comes in closed and open captioned versions. The cost is $35.00 plus postage and handling. - Available from: The National Easter Seal Society, 230 Monroe Street, Suite 1800, Chicago, IL 60606 USA, Fax: 1 312 726 1494.
  9. People in Motion is a mini-series of six one hour television programs depicting how new technologies are helping people with disabilities. Sponsored by NEC, the series was produced by Thirteen/WNET, New York and shown on public television channels throughout the USA in 1995 and 1996. Each 60 minute segment features several disabled individuals and contains substantial information about legislation, policy and research which has led to technological innovation. A brief description of the most recent three segments follows. Second Season: Episode 1: A New Sense of Place profiles a leading solo percussionist who is deaf, a television news correspondent who uses a wheelchair to get around the world, a blind photographer and a blind district attorney who is also a competitive athlete. The program points out that although these individuals are employed, the vast majority of substantially disabled persons are not and examines how technology may help to improve this situation. Episode 2: Breaking the Silence Barrier explores creative technologies being used to help people with autism, traumatic brain injuries, and learning and speech impairments. Featured are: an autistic man who paints with a computer, an autistic woman with a Ph.D. in animal science, a high level government official with a significant speech impairment, who uses a talking computer to communicate. The program also reports on research centers working towards a "universal curriculum " that eliminates barriers to learning. Episode 3: Without Barriers or Borders provides glimpses of how developments in technology and related policies are impacting disabled people in other countries. Specifically, the following are featured: a group of Russian high school students with disabilities are shown participating in challenging recreation activities at an exchange camp in the USA; Japanese disability activists are shown confronting their inaccessible transport systems; and the Cambodian Disabled People's Organization struggling to produce their own technical aids in a country decimated by war and the massive use of landmines. The People in Motion segments are available for $19.95 each or $49.95 for a set of three. They are distributed with a viewer's guide and are are both closed-captioned and have descriptive video service for blind or low vision viewers. - Available from: People in Motion, Second Season, P.O. Box 2284, South Burlington, VT 05407; phone (in USA only) 800 336 1917; fax 1 802 864 9846.
  10. Out of Sight is a New Zealand documentary reporting on a group of forgotten people with intellectual and other disabilities living out their lives in Templeton Hospital. In the words of one reviewer, "It is a powerful human statement about the lives of people cast aside by society." Following a decision to close the hospital, the residents are interviewed and tell their individual stories and express their desires to live in the community like everyone else. This documentary captures a situation common to many industrialized countries---new legislation is gradually bringing about closure of institutions, requiring community relocation of residents, while often there is no well developed plan to introduce community integration. Cost NZ$22. - Available from: Christian Resource Center International, P.O. Box 5181, Christchurch, New Zealand; fax 64 3 355 6427.
  11. Our Claim to Justice is a 20 minute documentary exploring the need for European-wide legislation to outlaw discrimination against people with disabilities. Examining the situation in various European Union members states in 1996, it makes a powerful case on behalf of such legislation commissioned by the European branch of Disabled People's International. - Available from: Disability Awareness in Action, 11 Belgrave Road, London SWIV IRB, UK. Tel. 44 171 821 9539; fax. 44 171 834 0477.
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