Learn More About Disability & Society Through Artistic, Documentary & Training Films

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Films

Disability Films Detailed list of 2,500 feature films which involve in one way or another various disabilities for anyone who has an interest in how disability is represented in films.

Disability Resources Media Web Watcher Lists films that feature characters with disabling conditions, television programs for people with disabilities, and videotapes for people who are blind.

Disability Videos. A bibliography of disability-related videos compiled for the NEH Summer Institute by Carrie Sandahl for the Film and Video Focus Group of the NEH Summer Institute on Disability Studies, 2000.

Dr Paul Darke's Disability and Film On-Line Page. The British film theory specialist who is the originator of Normality Theory and who has written extensively on identity and culture. His thesis appears online: "The Cinematic Construction of Physical Disability as Identified Through the Application of the Social Model of Disability to Six Indicative Films Made since 1970: A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg, The Raging Moon (1970), The Elephant Man (1980), Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981), Duet For One (1987) and My Left Foot (1989)."

Mobility International USA has produced three videos on topics of disability and international issues: (1) All Abroad!, (2) Loud, Proud and Passionate®, and (3) Loud, Proud and Prosperous® A Video Documentary. (Read more):

Recent Award Winning Films from Around the World is a list of 25 disability themed films with a brief description of each Disability World.

2003 "information package" on Disability Studies Contains a list of films and documentaries. National Resource Center on Supported Living and Choice, Syracuse University.

Access

Barrier Free Movies: New Service for Blind Viewers in Japan. Disability World, Issue no. 13 April-May 2002.

Bridge Multimedia Corporation is a New York City-based media company dedicated to supporting all facets of universally accessible media for entertainment, educational, commercial, and government applications.

Disability Resources Media Web Watcher Information on access to films and media for all types of disabilities.

WGBH - Media Access Group specializes in making films and television and radio broadcasts accessible to the deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired through the use of captions and descriptions. Home video titles offered with disability-related content include "There's Something About Mary" and "Scent of a Woman."

Commentaries & Reviews

And the Loser Is . . . John Hockenberry (a review of Million Dollar Baby). Million Dollar Bigot - The Truth Behind the Film.

Attitudes Toward Persons with Down Syndrome: The Impact of Television. Heather Hall and Patricia Minnes. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 11 (1): 61-76, March 1999. Plenum Publishing Corporation. Read abstract.

Award Winning Iranian Film Features Children Disabled by War. Barbara Duncan. Disability World, Issue no. 25 September-November 2004.

Bias High Against Disabilities: SAG Report Shows Discrimination, Performer Fear. Roger Armbrust. BackStage, July 28, 2005. VNU eMedia, Inc.

Beautiful Mind, A. (A review.) Disability World, Issue no. 9 July-August 2001.

Body Talk. (A review.) Corbett Joan O'Toole. Disability World, Issue no. 9 July-August 2001.

Death on Request. Film annotation and commentary. 57th Edition-April 2005. New York University School of Medicine, Medical Humanities page

Decontextualizing disability in the crime mystery genre: the case of the invisible handicap. Frederic W. Hafferty and Susan Foster. Disability & Society. Volume 9, Number 2 / January 1994, pp. 185 - 206. arfax Publishing Company, part of the Taylor & Francis Group. Read abstract.

Disability in full-length feature films: frequency and quality of films over an 11 year span. E.K. Byrd and T.R. Elliot. Read abstract.

Disability, gender and power in Japanese television drama. Arran Stibbe. Japan Forum. Volume 16, Number 1 / March 2004, pp. 21 - 36. Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group. Read abstract.

Disabling Imagery and the Media an Exploration of the Principles for Media Representations of Disabled People. (The first in a series of reports.) Colin Barnes. The British Council of Organizations of Disabled People. Ryburn Publishing. Halifax, England. (.pdf format). Read in html.

Discriminatory Portrayals of the Mentally Disabled in Popular Films: Some Preliminary Thoughts. Julie Stump. Contemporary Justice Review, 2002 - taylorandfrancis.metapress.com.

Elephant Man (David Lynch, EMI Films, 1980): An Analysis from a Disabled Perspective, The. Paul Anthony Darke. Disability & Society. Volume 9, Number 3 / January 1994, pp. 327 - 342. Carfax Publishing Company, part of the Taylor & Francis Group. Read abstract.

Escaping the "Evil Avenger" and the "Supercrip" of Disability in Popular Television. Alison Harnett. Irish Communications Review. Vol. 8, 2000. (.pdf format). View in html format.

Film Theory/Media Studies (research areas and bibliographies). www.disabilitystudies.com.

Frida. (A review.) Harilyn Rousso. Disability World, Issue no. 9 July-August 2001.

From Freaks to Savants: disability and hegemony from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) to Sling Blade. Fiona Whittington-Walsh. Disability & Society. Volume 17, Number 6, pp. 695 - 707. October 01, 2002. Carfax Publishing Company, part of the Taylor & Francis Group. Read abstract.

Going to School/Ir a La Escuela. (A review.) Jennifer Perry. Disability World, Issue no. 9 July-August 2001.

I Am Sam. (A review). Peter Byrne. University College, London.

Idiots, The. (A review). Lara Masters. Disability World, Issue no. 9 July-August 2001.

IMAGINING DIVERSITY: Disability/Film. Gerard Goggin and Christopher Newell. Designing Communication for Diversity. Conference, Brisbane, Australia, July 2003. (.pdf format). View in html.

Irish Film Company says "Lights! Disability! Action!" Jane Vincent. Disability World, Issue no. 7 March-April 2001.

Is the mouse sensitive? A study of race, gender, and social vulnerability in Disney animated films. Vincent E. Faherty. Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education. Volume 1, Issue 3 (August 2001). University of Toronto Press.

Liebe Perla: a complex friendship and lost disability history captured on film. (A review.) Barbara Duncan. Disability World, Issue no. 9 July-August 2001.

Losing It. (A review.) Jennifer Perry. Disability World, Issue no. 9 July-August 2001.

Kids Just Want to Have Fun! A video that works... (A review.) Barbara Kolucki. Disability World, Issue no. 9 July-August 2001.

Media & Disability Bibliography Project. Beth Haller. Towson University.

Media History and Disability, Beth Haller. Clio, Winter 1999, Volume 31, Number 2. Towson University.

Mental Illness in Disney Animated Films. Andrea Lawson and Gregory Fouts. 310 Can J Psychiatry, Vol. 49, No. 5, May 2004. -

My Flesh and Blood: U.S. documentary about life with 11 disabled, adopted children. (A review.) Barbara Duncan. Disability World, Issue no. 21 November-December 2003.

"Our Own Road": The Story of Project Projimo in Mexico. (A review). Barbara Kolucki. Disability World, Issue no. 9 July-August 2001.

Physical and Mental Disability in the Movies: A Short Bibliography of Books and Articles in the UC Berkeley Libraries.

Representations Of Psychiatric Disability In Fifty Years Of Hollywood Film: An Ethnographic Content Analysis. Lisa Lopez Levers. Theory & Science (2001).

Role of the Media in Promoting Images of Disability- Disability as Metaphor: The Evil Crip, The. Marilyn Dahl. Canadian Journal of Communication - Vol. 18, No. 1, January 1, 1993. University of British Columbia.

Short Stories. (A review). Barbara Duncan. Disability World, Issue no. 7 March-April 2001.

Three U.S. Videos Explore the World of Work from Perspectives of Disabled Individuals. (Reviews of (1) Teach Me To..., (2) Working Now, and (3) Look Who's Laughing.) Disability World, Issue no. 9 July-August 2001.

World Without Bodies, A. (A review.) Sandy O'Neill. Disability World, Issue no. 11 November-December 2001.