Disability justice & Nature

unseen (2023)

Set Hernandez

<p>Most people dream of a better future. Pedro, an aspiring social worker, is no different. But as a blind, undocumented immigrant, Pedro faces political restrictions to obtain his college degree, secure a job in his field, and support his family. As he finally graduates, uncertainty looms over Pedro. What starts as a journey to provide mental health care for his community ultimately transforms into Pedro&rsquo;s path towards his own healing. Through experimental cinematography and sound, &quot;unseen&quot; reimagines the accessibility of cinema, while exploring the intersections of immigration, disability, and mental health.</p> <p><em>We encourage&nbsp;viewers to download the&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.unseen-film.com/accessibility" target="_blank">All4Access app</a></strong>&nbsp;for audio description</em><br /> &nbsp;</p>

The Cost of Flesh

Tomas Palombi

<p>Alice is a totally paralyzed teenager who can only communicate through the movements of her eyes. Her brother and sister try an obscure method to treat her...</p>

Cabbage (2023)

Holly Márie Parnell

<p>Holly M&aacute;rie Parnell&rsquo;s film Cabbage (2023) examines the complexities of bodily autonomy within an ableist paradigm. Parnell focuses on her brother, David, particularly his texts written with the assistance of eye-tracking technology &ndash; he comments his &ldquo;eyes are his voice,&rdquo; which is made visible through poetry. Parnell juxtaposes medical narratives with testimony from David and their mother, including memories and reflections on various topics, from the minutia of daily life to questions of disability. Parnell creates an intimate portrait of her family and considers the relationship between empathy and the politics of care.</p>

Terrain Vague

Edward Kihn

<p><em>Terrain Vague </em>is a 16mm photo-roman, based on the images and accompanying log of a fictional female researcher who, over the summer of 2016, chronicles the development of a new private, university-based innovation center from the shell of a former color and coatings laboratory in a poor and working class Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood--an industrial hub that shuttered in the wake of the crisis of 2008.</p> <p>In her investigations into the history of the site and its environs, her peregrinations around the city (including a stop at the fateful 2016 Democratic National Convention), and her interactions with a beleaguered real estate agent, the researcher reflects on the cycles of creative destruction that permanently transform the urban landscape, providing openings for new schemes and entrepreneurial science fictions of development.</p>

Derek Changes His Mind

Derek Dabkoski Ian McClellan Im Joong Kim

<p>Derek Dabkoski enrolls in a year long, &nbsp;double blind medical study of the effects of modified stem cell surgery to treat traumatic brain injuries in the hopes he might regain the function lost after the brutal mugging that left him partially paralyzed on his right side. What he discovers, ultimately,&nbsp;is that his commitment to improving his quality of life, shows him he has the strength to help his wife Nadia attain her US residency and raise their newborn daughter Carmen.&nbsp;</p>