We’ve been working on this film for 6 years now, and we’ve learned a lot from the people we met. With the film we hope to pass on this knowledge, and to encourage change! Thank you for supporting us in that!
A couple of things that we find important:
Accessible film screenings
Its important for us that the film is accessible for as many people as possible. That’s why we created an audio description in German (and soon in English), as well as continuous subtitles in German and English. We also hope to be able to make a translation in German Sign Language and maybe also International sign language. (If people have ideas for how to get funding for that get in touch!)
We also hope to create change in the places and groups where the film is shown, so we ask you to think about how you can make the film screenings accessible for example for deaf, blind, neurodivergent, chronically ill, mobility impaired people. That could include:
- For people with chronic illness, sofas or other possibilities to lie down, wearing masks, asking people not to come when acutely sick, taking enough breaks, hybrid or online events.
- For deaf people organise sign language interpretation for the discussion (you probably need to organise funding for this, often cities have funding for this kind of accessibility)
- Is the venue wheelchair accessible? Is there an accessible toilet, or if not is there one in the area that could be used? How easy is it to get there with public transport?
- For neurodivergent people, make a quiet resting space available, provide fidget toys
- For blind people: offer assistance
Try to make the event accessible for as many disabled people possible, if you can for at least two different groups, that would be great. It’s not always possible to make everything accessible for everyone, sometimes access needs conflict, but that’s a good start.
If that seems too much or you don’t have capacity to put it into practise, please show the film anyway. Maybe it can be a start of sth 🙂
It’s very important to transparently provide information on the invitations, on your website etc about how accessible the space and the event is for people with different disabilities. It could be a good idea to share the invitations in spaces where disabled people can be reached. They are excluded so often, it’s time for that to change!
Please support us
Lian is very ill and at the moment we have to organise and finance medication and also assistance ourselves. That’s not possible without support. We want the film to be available for everyone, regardless of whether they can afford it or not, so if possible we would like there to be no fixed entry price. But we would ask everyone who can to support us. If you are a project, space, NGO etc, who normally pays your workers and contractors, think about if you could maybe give us a bit more. Living with chronic illness is very expensive. We would be very happy, and we need the support to also finish the second part of the film, and to make this first part even more accessible. You can also let us know, if you could support by writing an application to the city or to an association etc for funding.
After the film
We’ve also thought about how you could moderate a discussion or exchange after watching the film. For example you could ask what barriers people in the room experience, and what they would wish for. How does ableism affect you?
Then you could reflect on how your group/movement could be more accessible, and think of the next steps to get there.
We’ll be very happy if you organise a film screening, and we hope that together we can change a lot!
If you like you can also share with us, how the screening went, as lian can’t leave bed we’ re happy to stay connected and get to travel through the film 🙂