Introduction
By Barbara Kolucki
In India in the early 1980's, Barbara Kolucki, one of the editors, was working with UNICEF developing public education programmes about disability. She was asked to conduct a workshop with a local children's television group. On the first day, the crew went out to "shoot" a group of children who were disabled playing with non-disabled children. At the end of the day they reviewed the footage and saw that the cameras most often focused on braces, misshapen eyes, distorted faces and bodies, etc. The crew was instructed on the second day to themselves play with the children, and they were also shown some positive model videos of children with disability enjoying life.
Then they "shot" again, this time focusing on the laughter in children's faces, one child who was blind guiding another who was non-disabled, the subtle adaptations the children themselves made in their play. These were children, some whom happened to be disabled. It was a 180 degree change.
There are at least as many ways to use videos and films as there are categories in this catalogue They can and should entertain. They can also instruct, advocate, serve as a role model, train and allow one to see and dream of a better future.
The history of "disability films" has a place in history, but that history, many say, held back the empowerment of the lives of children an adults with disabilities. How? To begin with, most of the documentaries preached to the converted. With few exceptions, they were films about an organisation or programme made from the perspective of the often non-disabled management. The cause and the content were laudable, but at least two things led to their being generally of non-interest to the public. First, the management most often had little knowledge of or experience with media. They might provide the media producers with a tour of activities and a large pile of documents, hardly the stuff of an award-winning film. Then there were the media producers themselves. Many had never had personal contact with persons who were disabled. They were scared, unsure and the result was often a sterile, almost medicinal view.
Another historical perspective is that the common views of disability were different than they are today. Films and videos sought pity, or depicted superheroes (very few heroines), evoked fear or guilt or shame. Most embodied distance from the individuals who were disabled.
One research study interviewed children who were deaf, asking what happens to people like them when they grow up. Many of the children said that they thought that deaf people died before they grew up or that they somehow came to "hear". This was because they had never seen active deaf adults — in media and sadly enough, in real life.
Things began to change in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 1981 was the International Year of Disabled Persons and more people with disabilities were seen on television and films than ever before.
The Independent Living Movement was at its peak in the USA and a few other countries like Brazil and the U.K. Words such as normalisation, integration and mainstreaming were being put into practice. People with disabilities were breaking through barriers and becoming hosts on a few television shows and as actors in mainstream programmes, albeit usually as guest appearances.
Around the world a few puppets with disabilities were created. Film Festivals and competitions became part of world conferences (particularly those of Rehabilitation International). The United Nations held a seminar regarding positive portrayals of people with disabilities in the media and a booklet was published and distributed world-wide.
Things began to change
These changes have not reached everyone, especially in the developing world but sadly enough, also in industrialised countries. Still, there are too few people with disabilities in the media.
Still, there are negative depictions. Still, many non-disabled actors play disabled roles. And still, there are telethons and campaigns that often portray disability as something that must be eradicated before one can be whole or fully human. And still, prevention campaigns instill fear, pity or shame in millions of people around the world.
Much of this can be changed by increased production and viewing of positive, entertaining media portrayals where people with disabilities are speaking for themselves. There are already hundreds of videos that do this. This catalog is an attempt to give you choices to rent or purchase those that best suit your needs. The videos come from around the world and several have won national or international awards. There are many ways to use them to maximise their potential benefits. A few examples are included in the next section.
In the category Role Models, people with disabilities portray the variety within this label. In a film about wheelchair maker and trainer, Ralf Hotchkiss, we see how, because of his disability and dissatisfaction with conventional wheelchairs, he began to design and train others, especially in developing countries how to make wheelchairs more cheaply, flexible for different terrain and a source of employment for persons who are disabled. In a video about limb deformities, two adolescents teach their doctors and therapists how they can and prefer to get along sometimes without special prosthetics.
And in an Australian Film we see a woman, June Opie, who in the 1950's and 60's broke travel and professional barriers that we often associate with decades later and often with men.
In the category Prejudice and Discrimination, children in Pakistan speak in short "public service announcements" about their fears of children with disabilities and how the fear was overcome by spending time together. Black parents speak to us in another video about a double prejudice of being black and having disabled children. Two severely disfigured young men from Hong Kong take us through their days where they meet head on the prejudice of others and how they support each other. AIDS brings two very different people together in another video. And a Finnish award winning film uses humour to show the reactions and stereotypic attitudes of the non-disabled public.
Infants and Young Children is a category that is special in that it is often hard to find film producers who are interested in this topic — or a children's audience. Yet, when these are produced, they are very effective, both in terms of preventing negative attitudes but also in terms of giving people practical skills that could minimise disability with early intervention. A "Child-to-Child" project in Mexico is depicted. Another film shows a montage of positive portrayals of children with all kinds of disability from India doing what all other children do. Prevention spots from UNICEF-Nepal demonstrate that one does not have to resort to fear or shame — people with disabilities themselves can pass on valuable information about immunisation and be effective. These PSAs were part of a landmark research study (attached article "Public education and Health: How to Approach Disability Issues" by Rina Gill, on page 88 of this catalogue). And there are several "training videos" that concentrate on early intervention skills that could be used with parent and other caregiver groups. Finally included are several videos for children that could serve as a model for quality children's productions in any country.
In the Community-based Rehabilitation section, there are numerous resources that could be used both as advocacy for starting CBR projects or for training of CBR workers and community members. In one,
Save the Children-UK (SCF) held a conference a few years back that brought together dozens of people who had together decades of experience with CBR. This video shares several of the lessons learned in the past decade and a half. Individual CBR projects from places as different as Guyana, Swaziland, Ghana, Malaysia and Namibia are included.
Employment and Training is a section that contains some of the best from both developing and industrialised countries. New interactive CD-ROM and video packages on interview skills for persons with disability are included as well as innovative employment schemes supported by the ILO in many countries around the world. Also included are videos that can be used to train non-rehabilitation workers to work with employees who are disabled. Practical information about employment implications raised by legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as well as the case studies of successful employment of persons who are disabled from around the world are outlined in this section.
Peace Education is included both because conflict and war have caused millions of children and adults to become disabled physically and psycho-socially but also because the prejudices that keep non-disabled persons from befriending people with disabilities are similar to the prejudices between ethnic, religious and other groups. Likewise, strategies to prevent or change negative attitudes and behaviours are presented in the videos and programmes aimed to educate the public. A Peace Education programme using artists from Mozambique, camps for children in Lebanon, PSAs about landmines and creative ways to teach conflict resolution are presented.
Media and Public Education, Documentaries, Public Policy and Sports are also included as separate categories. The entries included range from model Independent Living projects, innovative employment practices, a review of the Decade of Disabled Persons to films that educate a specific group like airline employees on how to better serve travellers who are disabled. The FESPIC games, Special Olympics, and Paralympics are included.