Celebrating a decade of stigma-smashing film, art, and commUNITY!

ReelAbilities Film Festival: Northern Virginia is dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities.

Each year, this dynamic festival, powered by the Pozez Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, presents both domestic and international award-winning films paired with interactive programming that gives us a new perspective and highlights the vibrant personalities, realities, and extraordinary abilities of people. Through film, art, and discussion, ReelAbilities Film Festival: Northern Virginia brings together the community to explore, embrace, and celebrate the diversity of our shared human experience.

The ReelAbilities Film Festival: Northern Virginia is pleased to offer our audience the opportunity to enjoy films in community at the Pozez JCC and in venues throughout the region, as well as the opportunity to engage virtually.

Schedule of Events:

February 1, 2024:

7pm: Opening Night: An Evening Of Short Films & Art
Screening begins at 7pm
Gallery Exhibit and Artist Discussion: Follows the screening

"The Creatives"
Short films on art, entrepreneurship, comedy, filmmaking, and theater

Mike’s Words:
11 Min | English | US | 2019 | Documentary | Dir. Jared Jacobsen
A man with a rare physical disability creates films that focus on the social aspects of being a minority.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w23JNtxdZFk

Bendix: Site Unseen:
26 Min | English | US | 2021 | Documentary | Dir. Anthony Scalia
Surrounded by highway traffic sits the unassuming Bendix Diner, owned and operated by John Diakakis. As the blind, single father of three young children who also work at the diner, John attempts to provide a better life for his family.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNtaBditwNk

Imagined Touch:
33 Min | Australian Sign Language / English | Australia | 2021 | Documentary | Dir. Jodee Mundy Oam, Sofya Gollan
When two deafblind women ask a theater director to help them make a show about being deaf and blind, never in their wildest dreams did they imagine it would become an award-winning show.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DGPvU4zpWE

Limbo:
9 Min | Hebrew | Israel | 2022 | Narrative | Dir. Barak Drori
On the verge of losing the last thread of sight he has left, Adam tries to process his loss.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeZD74pi5rA

In tandem with the festival, the Bodzin Gallery of Art will feature a special exhibit: "Bright Darkness"
Paintings and Digital Art by Anne Schlachter-Dagan
January 11 - March 6, 2024
Learn more about the exhibit by clicking here.
Meet the artist following the opening film screenings.

Tickets: https://reelopening2024.brownpapertickets.com

Location: Pozez JCC, 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, VA 22031.

February 4, 2024:

10am: Okay! (The Asd Band Film)
86 Min | English | Canada | 2022 | Documentary | Dir. Mark Bone

Four talented autistic musicians come together through their shared love of music and form the ASD Band. Rawan, Jackson, Spenser, and Ron shatter stereotypes about people with autism and navigate a world where they are often misunderstood. As they write, record, and perform their first album, they find strength in each other and the music.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3GiDkYE4L0

Tickets: https://www.olamtikvah.org/event/reelabilities-film-festival2.html

Location: Congregation Olam Tikvah, 3800 Glenbrook Rd, Fairfax, VA 22031.

4pm: Okay! (The Asd Band Film)
86 Min | English | Canada | 2022 | Documentary | Dir. Mark Bone

Four talented autistic musicians come together through their shared love of music and form the ASD Band. Rawan, Jackson, Spenser, and Ron shatter stereotypes about people with autism and navigate a world where they are often misunderstood. As they write, record, and perform their first album, they find strength in each other and the music.

Post film discussion with Melissa Heifetz, Executive Director, The Arc of Northern Virginia.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3GiDkYE4L0

Tickets: https://www.bethelhebrew.org/event/2024-reelabilities-film-festival.html

Location: Beth El Hebrew Congregation, 3830 Seminary Rd, Alexandria, VA 22304.

February 10, 2024:

1pm: Being Michelle
80 Min | ASL/English | US | 2022 | Documentary | Dir. Atin Mehra

The astonishing story of a woman who survived incarceration in a system that refused to accommodate her needs as a deaf person with autism. Michelle’s trajectory changed when she met Kim Law, a blind life coach who teaches in the prison. A story of redemption, this award-winning film is about the bonds between two women committed to thriving in a broken system and forging a path to healing.

Resource Fair: 1pm-1:30pm
Film: 1:30pm
Discussion: 3pm

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxFaXDDefec

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nvrc-film-fest-2024-with-reelabilities-tickets-773951749517

Location: Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Persons in partnership with Service Source, 10467 White Granite Drive, Oakton, VA 22124.

February 11, 2024:

1pm: Upside Down
93 Min | Italian | Italy | 2022 | Narrative | Dir. Luca Tornatore

Paolo, a 19-year-old with Down syndrome, meets Armando, a tough but kindhearted boxing trainer at the local gym. Constantly underestimated by the world around him, Paolo decides to train with Armando, much to the dismay of his protective father. Paolo steps into the ring against all odds, hoping to find his confidence and a sense of belonging.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaqXNbZFX3g

Tickets: https://www.adatreyim.org/event/reelabilities-film-fesitval-movie-showing.html

Location: Congregation Adat Reyim, 6500 Westbury Oaks Court, Springfield, VA 22152.

February 21, 2024:

8pm: Imperfect  
78 Min | English | USA | 2021 | Documentary | Dir. Brian Malone, Regan Linton

An award-winning theater group consisting of actors who live and perform with the uniqueness of disability sets out to claim their place in the spotlight with a production of the beloved Chicago. Following these actors’ lives inside and outside the theater, curtains are drawn open to overlooked talent and the power of the human condition in all its many forms.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s28kky26EAk

Tickets: https://restoncommunitycenter.com/event/centerstage-cinema-equity-matters-imperfect/

Location: CenterStage Cinema at Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston, VA 20191.

February 25, 2024:

3pm: Shorts Films: Spotlight On Mental Health

Post-films Discussion:

A panel of speakers will discuss Bipolar Disorder, the mental health condition presented in the two films, as well as what happens in Fairfax County when law enforcement becomes involved with individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.

Speakers:

Speaker on Bipolar Disorder: TBD

Lieutenant Joanna Culkin, Commander, Fairfax County Police Department Crisis Intervention Team
Reverend Kenneth Nixon, Senior Community Organizer, VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement)

Tickets: https://templerodefshalom.shulcloud.com/form/inclusion.reelabilities.feb24

Films to be screened this evening:

Breathe:
16 Min | English | US | 2022 | Documentary | Dir. Zac Norrington

In 1983, Julie Ridge became the first person to swim two consecutive laps around Manhattan Island, earning her a guest appearance on The David Letterman Show. Now, living in Manhattan and working as a clinical social worker with over 25 years of experience, she dives into her memories of struggling with bipolar disorder, marathon swimming, and how the water has aided her journey.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoYhFYmLtCM

Just In Case:
14 Min | English | UK | 2021 | Narrative | Dir. Kirsty Robinson-Ward

An exploration of what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder, through the lens of a concerned father and his scared daughter.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5JYHhX_2Fs

Location: Temple Rodef Shalom, 2100 Westmoreland Street, Falls Church, VA 22043.

March 6, 2024:

6pm: Upside Down
93 Min | Italian | Italy | 2022 | Narrative | Dir. Luca Tornatore

Paolo, a 19-year-old with Down syndrome, meets Armando, a tough but kindhearted boxing trainer at the local gym. Constantly underestimated by the world around him, Paolo decides to train with Armando, much to the dismay of his protective father. Paolo steps into the ring against all odds, hoping to find his confidence and a sense of belonging.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaqXNbZFX3g

Location: Down Syndrome Association of Northern Virginia, 10467 White Granite Drive, Oakton, VA 22124.

March 10, 2024:

3pm: Closing Event

Reimagining Disability in the Future: Short films and post film conversation with thought leaders in the field.

Speakers:

Day Al-Mohamed, Filmmaker, Author, and Policy Export
Mathew McCullough, Director of D.C.’s Office of Disability Rights
Isaac Zablocki, Co-Founder of ReelAbilities Film Festival

Films to be screened:

Neurodivergent:
25 Min | English | US | 2022 | Documentary | Dir. Afton Quast Saler

In this profoundly personal mixed media experience inside the ADHD mind, the filmmaker takes us on a journey as she discovers her ADHD diagnosis during the height of the pandemic. When she turns the camera on herself and her family to process what this diagnosis means, she also discovers why so many women with ADHD are undiagnosed, and the dire consequences it has on their lives.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwaYAwxOjrw

Shadow:
57 Min | English | Australia | 2021 | Narrative | Dir. Bruce Gladwin

Simon, Scott, and Sarah—a trio of activists with intellectual disabilities—hold a town hall meeting, desperate to save the world from the future impacts of Artificial Intelligence. What begins as a polite discussion quickly descends into bickering and chaos, and as the meeting unravels, they discover the greatest threat to their future is already in the room. A nuanced and witty criticism of ableism and societal hierarchy, the film is based on the award-winning play The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyJP8A2TY9k

Location: The Reach at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Justice Forum, 2700 F St NW, Washington, DC 20566.

Dates: February 1, 2024 - March 10, 2024

Click here for more information.