DVD of short films and clips from film and TV

This DVD is available for £15 (inc VAT). Buy online from the BFI Filmstore or phone Palgrave Macmillan Orders on 01256 302866.

• Alison's Baby
• Better or Worse?
• Cousin
• Black Dog
• Blind Sensation
• Tell it like it is
• The Chapeau Roan
• The Egg
• Arko Ujyalo (Another Light)
• See the person, not the disability
• Together
• Raspberry Ripple Awards
• Sixth Happiness
• Rhythm of Survival
• Gallivant

This section features discussion of all the short films and film clips on the bfi Disabling Imagery? DVD. These allow disability to be seen from some highly original perspectives and are particularly useful to compare and contrast with mainstream films. Some are made by disabled filmmakers, some try to express in moving imagery the experience of a particular impairment; there are humorous films and animated films. After each film discussed there is a link to Suggested activities specific to each film. For many of the films there are also Detailed lesson plans aimed at the most relevant Key Stage.

Alison's Baby

Denmark TV2 1999 Dir Bente Milton. clip: 7"

This clip is taken from a 49-minute TV documentary on Alison Lapper, a disabled artist based in Brighton, who is a Thalidomide survivor and has no arms and a short body. Alison is a mouth-painter, but also uses other media, including photography, digital imaging and installation to explore her subject - which is often herself and the ways in which she is viewed by others. The documentary, which is both down-to-earth and inspiring, follows Alison's unfolding life before, during and after the birth of her son Parys, who turns out to be a healthy and strong baby. As for the future, Alison doesn't know what it holds and whether she will need more or less help as Parys grows. 'I am a person who lives for the day and sees what happens. I am self-employed, so I can give Parys my time. I don't have arms to hold him, but I have all my love to give him - and that is the most important thing ...'

The extract is from the very beginning of the film and shows a pregnant Alison getting into and driving her adapted car, getting into her home, answering her telephone, painting, and going to hospital to have her baby. Over these images, Alison is talking about the challenges she faces.

See Alison's website at alisonlapper.com

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

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Better or Worse?

UK 2000 Dir Jocelyn Cammack. 9"

Written by the director, the story features eight year-old Rachel trying to make sense of her visual impairment, in a film that contrasts ideas of perspective. The use of the camera often reflects the view of the girl in a very creative way. The film starts in an empty swimming pool at night, with Rachel looking through her goggles. A visit to the optician shows Rachel struggling to read the letters during an eye test. While the optician is out of the room, Rachel gets up to memorise the letters on the eye test card. When the optician comes back, Rachel corrects what she said before, but the optician puts up a new test card and, again, she can't read it. In another scene, children, led by Luke, are laughing at blind people walking along the pavement opposite the school when they bump into a litter bin or bus stop. Rachel laughs embarrassedly as well.

At the swimming pool, Rachel's class is lined up along the side of the pool while they take it in turns to jump off the five-metre top board. Rachel counts how long it takes them to hit the water. Luke doesn't dare dive and climbs down shamefacedly. The film cuts to Rachel trying on her new glasses and then riding her bike through a subway with her eyes closed. The last scene is Rachel in the pool alone at night, getting ready to jump off the top board - you hear the splash as she dives.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

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Cousin

Australia 1999 Dir Adam Benjamin Elliot. 5"

This animation, written by the director and using plasticine figures, won first prize at the 2001 Disability Film Festival in Munich. The tone of this short is ironic. The narrator remembers playing with his cousin, who smelt of liquorice and had cerebral palsy. His cousin was always dressed as a super-hero and got the narrator to dress up likewise. The narrator's memories include: his cousin taking anti-convulsant pills, which he said gave him superpowers; the cousin's right arm being very strong, so when he played cricket it was dangerous!; he had pets. One time, while his cousin was playing in his shopping trolley, some other boys came up to bully him, one calling him 'Spazzo' and mimicking him. The cousin broke the bully's finger and ran off screaming with laughter. Sometimes, his cousin was frustrated and angry and punched a hole in the wall. Auntie knew what to do. She'd grab him, look him in the eyes and say, 'Bake a cake.'

When the cousin was eight, his parents were killed in a car accident. He moved to another State and he and the narrator slowly lost touch. The narrator thinks he saw his cousin one day, working in a shopping-centre, collecting trolleys. 'I just watched him, I hope he is happy, and I wondered if he still smelled of liquorice.'

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

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Black Dog

UK BBC 1999 Dir Lou Birks. 6"

This is an evocative film about depression that uses the medium of film to convey the experience effectively. It starts with a quote from Churchill, who had depression, and called it his 'Black Dog'. Discordant music accompanies pictures of water, then fades to people walking in the street, with words superimposed: 'them', 'you', 'Accepted or Outcast', 'How did', 'you learn to walk?' Then, there's some speeded-up walking.

You see a blurred view of walking on paving stones superimposed on someone tied and gagged in a chair. 'Questions', 'Have become difficult'. Now drumming is introduced, along with the original music and pictures of fire superimposed over streets. 'No sound', 'no voice', 'not even', silent tears'. You see water droplets falling on the fire.

There's a change of tempo and now shots of moving traffic and street scenes, which are more up-beat. More words appear, 'meditation', 'the sea', 'snapping', 'out of it', 'herbal tea', hypnotherapy', 'god', 'so when you asked', '"(have you tried...?)"', 'the answer', 'is usually', 'YES', '(thank you)'.

It then goes back to the original music with a shot of a red traffic light; then back to the shot of ripples superimposed with 'faithful', 'BLACK DOG'. The film ends with a further quote, 'Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cure for depression.' Dodie Smith 1948.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

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Blind Sensation

UK 2001 Dir Raina Haig. Maverick Films for Channel 4. 3"

This is a short film about blindness. It starts with a blind woman and her guide dog in the street. The camera shots are distorted and blurred. The voice-over is of a woman's voice, 'Excuse Me', 'Hello'.

This is followed by a shot of a man with dark glasses and a white cane, walking. A male voice-over says, 'I like walking in the summer, walking along an unknown path'.

You see a woman with a guide dog trying to cross the road. The woman's voice says, 'Noise bouncing off me'. There's a close-up of someone eating fast food: 'Smells greasy. Hot dogs'.

Then there's a shot of a blind man crossing the road and turning round and round in the centre. The male voice says, 'You have to take up space'. The female voice repeats it. The male voice speaks again, 'It's feeling fear and going ahead anyway' as he's walking along.

The woman is still waiting at the traffic light, saying 'Excuse me'.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

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Tell it Like it is

UK 2001 Dir Harriet Gaze. Scope. 12"

This film looks at the use of language and images of disabled people in everyday life and the media and, especially, portrayal in the news. Set in the Channel 4 news studio, Jon Snow introduces the main news stories, which all feature disabled people, and then passes over to wheelchair-using Mik Scarlet for more detail. 'Blimey, that makes a difference doesn't it? Stories featuring disabled people that treat us like anyone else in the news.' The language and pictures used in TV, newspapers and radio reflect and shape the way people think about disability.

The film then gives different viewpoints from Mandy Colleran, actor and charity worker, John Quinn a former journalist and sub-editor, and David Crawl, a charity worker. They are all disabled. Francesca Martinez, a disabled stand-up comedian, delivers some old jokes with a new punch line. The film also goes into what makes a good picture and how disabled people want to be treated.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

See also www.scope.org.uk/issues/tellitlikeitis

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The Chapeau Roan

UK 2001 Dir Jenni Meredith. Snow Trek Productions. 1"30s

This is a very short, funny animation about a disabled woman and her male personal assistant. The personal assistant is pushing the woman in a wheelchair. They pass a club where there are male strippers advertised. She shows an interest. He covers her head with a hat and pushes on until he sees a friend sitting outside a bar. He soon gets engrossed in drinking and talking to his friend, ignoring the woman. She slips away and wheels herself back to the club. Inside, she gets involved with what's happening and ends up dancing with the male strippers in her wheelchair. Finally, her PA misses her and is embarrassed to find her at the club. Now he has to cover his blushes with the hat while she is outside laughing.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

Jenni Meredith would be happy to receive any feedback on jen.snowtrax@freeuk.com

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The Egg

UK 2002 Dir Richard Wilson .BBC. 9"

Written by Patrick Marber and produced by Ewan Marshall, this is one of a series of three 10-minute dramas that challenge assumptions about disabled people. A man (Jamie Beddard) who has cerebral palsy, stops his car at a café to go to the toilet. Seeing a van has left its lights on, he goes into the café to tell them. At first they don't understand him.

The waitress (Frances de la Tour) describes him to the chef (Tim Healey) as a 'cripple' and patronises him - 'does he want a spoon?'; when he asks for paper, 'Do you want to do a drawing?' The disabled man says, 'I have a degree in psychology'. The chef tells her off.

The man compliments the chef on his cooking of his egg on toast. It's four in the morning. They talk. The man is in his pyjamas having left after a row with his girlfriend. The chef tells him he's in love with the waitress, but can't tell her. 'She just doesn't see me like that.' The man says, 'It's always best to speak.'

On his way out, the man tells the waitress, 'That man is a great chef.' He looks back through the window and sees the chef come up to the waitress with some flowers and talk to her. The man drives off.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

See also the BBC website

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Arko Ujyalo (Another Light)

Nepal 2000 Dir Kedar Sharma. Inclusive Education. clip 1 - 3". clip 2 - 3"

This film is a 20 minute-long documentary on the life of a lively twelve-year old boy, who lost his vision at the age of three through having measles. Nandalal Kumal is shown coping with his every day life in a small Nepalese village. You see him with his family, playing with his friends, swimming and going to the local mainstream school. His father and teacher talk about why it is important for him attend the local school, rather than being sent to a school for special needs outside the village. They recognise his need to be part of a community and learn the skills to earn his living and do household tasks.

Clip 1 shows Nandalal on his way to school with friends. His father explains that Nandalal can attend the local village school, rather than being sent away to a special school, because a teacher trained in teaching blind children was sent to the village.

In Clip 2, Nandalal's teacher explains how she taught the other pupils to accept Nandalal and to help him, inside and outside the classroom. She stresses that he is very well integrated into the local school and that he is learning skills for life.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

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See the person, not the disability Ads

Getting Served

UK 2003 Advertising and disability/DWP/COI. 1"

The first advertisement, called 'Getting served', opens in a noisy dance club packed with people. It cuts to the bar where two barmen are serving. The noise is so impossibly loud that the few people attempting conversation are reduced either to meaningless nods and smiles, or to close-range bellowing in one ear. Trying to get people's orders right is a nightmare for the older of the barmen. For people who want draught beer, he points to each tap in turn, and then does a 'large-or-small' gesture to establish whether they want a pint or half-pint. When it comes to bottled drinks, he's forced to finger-tap along the shelf behind him, turning round repeatedly to see if he's arrived at the right one, before holding up fingers to see how many are wanted. The younger barman seems to be finding it easier, despite the relentless music, he's getting it right first time. The film cuts to a close-up of a customer's mouth as he orders. The younger barman nods, understanding. So that's the trick - he's good at lipreading.

He looks up for the next customer, and in a sea of waving arms his attention is immediately attracted by a pretty girl who is Signing. There is a Signed dialogue, with subtitles as follows:

Girl : Any chance of a drink ?

Barman : Yes - sure.

Girl : Vodka and tonic, please.

Barman : Ice and lemon?

Girl : Yes please.

Barman : What are you doing later?

A handsome guy appears over her shoulder. The barman smiles ruefully. The clip ends with the slogan, 'See the person, not the disability'.

Wheelchair; Maria; Wanker

UK 1995 Dir Mike Figgis. Advertising and disability/Co-op Bank. 1"30s

Wheelchair

The first of the next three advertisements, all of which were directed by Mike Figgis, is called Wheelchair and shows a young man in a wheelchair in the streets. He talks to the camera, saying that he doesn't need pity or sympathy or even money. While he needs a helping hand from time to time, he doesn't want to be treated differently from other people. Rather than staring at him, why not ask him the way or the time, for example? He says, 'Instead of asking him, why not ask me?'.

Maria

In Maria, a woman with facial disfigurement talks about her life and hobbies. She mentions her ambition to cruise around the world one day and that she loves the roses in her garden. The audience is expecting her to talk about her facial disfigurement, but she doesn't mention it.

Wanker

In Wanker, the actor Mat Fraser tells friends how he was called names in school because of his disability. He goes on to describe how he flirted with a woman in a bar recently without realising that her boyfriend was sitting next to her. When the boyfriend looked over to him and bluntly called him a 'wanker', Mat Fraser recalls that it 'made his day'.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

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Together

UK 1956 Dir Lorenza Mazzetti. clip 1 - 2". clip 2 - 3"

Together is an experimental black and white film, 52 minutes long, that was made under the banner of the Free Cinema movement. The film follows the everyday lives of two deaf and mute men in the bombed-out landscapes of the 1950s East End of London. There is hardly any talking in the film.

In the first clip, the two men walk home from work, having a conversation in British Sign Language (BSL). When the local children see them, they follow them, making faces. They pass two neighbours, who stare at them and confide in each other.

In the second clip, the two men walk along and tentatively go into a public house. There is loud, swing jazz playing. People are singing and talking. When someone tries to talk to one of the men, the camera takes his perspective for a minute - there is no sound at all suddenly, and you see the old man moving his lips and gesticulating, probably trying to communicate with hand signals to the men. The last shot is of them walking along the street again.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

You can contact the bfi to book this film for a screening. See bookings page.

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Raspberry Ripple Awards

UK 1997 Dir Jeremy Cross. Kudos for Channel 4. clip 7"

This was a 24-minute televisation of The 1 in 8 Group Awards Ceremony for the best and worst media representations of disability. The clip features the TV drama awards. The compère, actor Alun Cumming, explains that the purpose of the awards is to publicise the under-representation of disabled people in TV and cinema, and to give awards for good and bad portrayals.

Each award is presented by a disabled person and a celebrity together. The winner in the best TV drama category is the episode of A Touch of Frost, in which Timmy Laing, who has Down's Syndrome, played Billy - Timmy collects the prize. The winner in the worst TV drama category is not present to claim the prize.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

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The Sixth Happiness

UK 1997 Dir Waris Hussein. BBC/bfi. clip 1 - 5". clip 2 - 1"30s

Disabled activist Firdaus Kanga scripted this autobiographical British drama by adapting his novel, Trying to Grow. Born in 1962 with brittle bone disease, Brit Kotwal (Firdaus Kanga) grows up with the support of his middle-class Bombay family. The name Brit is a reference both to 'brittle' and to his Indian mother, Sarah's, love of all things British. Kanga plays the role of the central character at various ages, beginning at eight years old.

The film's title comes from the earlier film, Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958, Mark Robson, USA), starring Ingrid Bergman. The first five happinesses are: health; longevity; virtue; wealth; and a peaceful death. The sixth is 'what I feel in my heart for you, Brit', says Sarah.

Clip 1 , which is taken from the beginning of the film, introduces Brit and his family. It includes Brit's birth and Brit at eight, when his father takes young Brit to a 'witch doctor' in the hope of getting him cured.

Brit's father cannot come to terms with having a disabled son, although he eventually comes to love him. His mother has a much more positive attitude to Brit - when the doctor says her son will never walk she says, 'Wheelchairs, Doctor, were invented for boys like mine.' Dolly, Brit's sister, is his great ally and friend. Amy, Brit's cousin, is deaf and uses Sign language. She, too, is a friend to Brit.

As Brit matures into a teenager, he has an affair with the male lodger. He shows Brit how to have fun and takes him dancing in a club. This scene features in Clip 2.

Later, Brit has an affair with his lodger's girlfriend. An educated woman takes Brit on as her protégé and he becomes a writer. At the end of the film, Brit is happy with his body and goes on to find new relationships in a new country.

This is a very positive film, which gives insights into the prejudice shown towards people who are different. At the same time, the disabled person as narrator brings humour and irony to the situation. The audience is educated to view impairment as just another part of the human condition. All the people who have supported Brit or loved him go away or die, but through all this he matures.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

You can contact bfi Access to book this film for a screening. See our bookings page

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Rhythm of Survival

UK 2000 made by Alfonso Martin-Fernandez, Ellen Willets and Delroy Williams-Whynn, edited by Michelle Bhartia. CSV Media. 9"

This film is about a group of people who share the experience of going through the mental health system, and who all want to develop their creative potential. For many of them, this is vital. Core Arts at St. Barnabas Terrace, Hackney is a place where mental health system users can go to do just this. The film inter-cuts mental health system users talking about their feelings: about how they are treated in society, how they feel about life and being at Core Arts, with the activities that go on there - poetry, painting, drawing, music, singing, photography and ceramics.

We are told by participants in the project:

• That obstacles get in the way once you are a mental health system user;
• How you become outcast in society, isolated, a pariah;
• That people don't understand mental illness;
• That it's the last great stigma, or taboo;
• That, as a mother who has used the mental health system, you are continually under examination to ascertain whether you can bring up your children;
• That it doesn't happen to anyone else; that, if you mention schizophrenia, people think you're an axe-wielding maniac who's going to kill you;
• About medication - you reluctantly accept it stabilises you, but it also debilitates you, you get side-effects like shaking. How can you draw when you are shaking?
• If something is on my mind and I put it in a picture, I'm dealing with it. It's liberation.
• Doing what I want to do, I don't have a problem getting out of bed in the morning.
• I take one day at a time, but at the same time I have dreams. Me, married, have a girlfriend and have kids, like anyone else.
• I had a horrible time, but rise above it. And maybe, at the end of the day, I'm a better person because of it.
• Coming here is like being part of a community and it's work, but enjoyable.

The film was made by mental health survivors, supported by mentors and advisers from the BBC Skills Exchange. It was funded by Community Service Volunteers, Adult and Community Learning Fund, NIACE, BBC Training and Development.

Mind, The National Association for Mental Health, produce a number of fact sheets with interesting statistics: Mental distress in the UK.

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

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Gallivant

UK 1996 Dir Andrew Kötting, UK. clip: 5"

Andrew Kötting takes his grandmother and daughter on a 6-7000 mile journey around the coast of Britain and into each other's worlds. The definition of to gallivant is 'to wander about, seeking pleasure or diversion' - and this is what Kötting does in his film, during which you enjoy the company of a charming couple: Gladys and Eden. Gladys is the director's grandmother, an opinionated octogenarian, bursting with anecdotes and reminiscences, which are frequently confusing and contradictory. Eden is Kötting's seven year-old disabled daughter who has a rare disorder, Joubert's syndrome, and communicates through Sign Language. In the clip you see Gladys and Eden communicating in their own way, while travelling from Abbotsbury, Dorset, to Beer, Devon.

The clip comes from a 100 minute-long feature film, which is a spin on the road movie, with the trio setting off to learn about and connect with each other and to find out about the landscape and the people who shape it, many of whom are eccentric.

You can purchase this film from bfi Video

Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.

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