By Noah Grand
Daily Bruin Reporter
A week-long international film exhibition at UCLA,
“Capable Reality: Addressing Disability in Film,”
concluded on Saturday with a ceremony that brought sponsors and
actors together to discuss how people with disabilities are
portrayed.
Educating the public about people with disabilities was a major
theme of the event. Marcelo Mitnik, a second-year graduate student
in the screenwriting program and special event coordinator of the
Dashew International Center, said that it was important to portray
people with disabilities doing what they do, and not as heroes or
victims.
“I really used the film exhibition as an excuse to discuss
this topic,” Mitnik said. “The more we talk about
disabilities, the less people will fear the disabled and the more
of an impact we will have.”
Mitnik said he decided he wanted to have a film exhibition, and
he felt obligated to choose a theme that would make a statement. He
chose the theme of disabilities because he felt they were not
discussed, and the exhibition would be a good opportunity to bring
up this discussion.
The film exhibition included seven films, each from a different
country. This helped to show how different cultures around the
world treat and portray individuals with disabilities.
“Disability is worldwide,” said actor and keynote
speaker Robert David Hall. “I do know that movies and
television go around the world and help educate people about the
disabled.”
In his speech, Hall said it is rare for people with disabilities
to play roles that are not based on their disability. Hall, a UCLA
alumnus, plays Dr. Robins, the coroner on the CBS series CSI (Crime
Scene Investigation). He is currently the only disabled actor with
a regular role in a television series.
“I did not set out to be a role model,” said Hall,
who had both legs amputated after a car accident in 1978.
“But in some ways I am a role model for the disabled.
It’s a pretty humbling responsibility.”
A lack of role models for her son Blair is what got Gail
Williamson involved with helping disabled actors find roles. Blair,
who has Down syndrome, first appeared in a national commercial when
he was 10 years old.
“After that day, everyone became more comfortable with
people with Down syndrome,” Williamson said. “Then I
tried to give people with disabilities more role models and I found
the Media Access Office.”
She has worked for 10 years with the Media Access Office, a
nonprofit organization that tries to create equal opportunities in
the entertainment industry for people with disabilities. She first
served as a volunteer and then as a staff member. She currently
tries to find roles for more than 600 actors and also gives advice
on how to accurately portray a disabled person, in acting and
script writing.
Williamson said it is important to get images of disabled people
on television and in the movies every day.
“The reason our office tries to get these images out is
because it is a subtle form of education,” Williamson said.
“It breaks down the barriers of discrimination against the
disabled.”
Hall said it wasn’t until he was in an accident with a
drunk truck driver that he realized that there is some fear and
discrimination against the disabled.
He was often cast in what he called “bitter cripple”
roles before being able to play roles not revolving around his
disability. This was because casting groups were afraid his
disability would have to be explained in the story, Hall said.
“It’s taken a long time for society to realize that
we have doctors, lawyers, teachers and artists who are
disabled,” Hall said. “Images of the disabled help
determine how we see things.”
The other featured speaker of the night was poet Majid Naficy,
who received his doctorate from UCLA in 1997. Naficy, who is
legally blind, recited from his collection “Muddy
Shoes” including poems about his eyes.
Naficy said he became involved with the event after being
contacted by the organizers, some of whom had heard of him when he
was a graduate student at UCLA.
Mitnik said the most important part of the exhibition was not
the showing of foreign films but the ability to discuss
disabilities and how they are portrayed.
He added that sponsoring the festival has had an impact on his
own writing. He was working on a romantic comedy with a deaf
character as one of the leads. He still likes the idea, but he sees
a greater purpose for his script.
“This script is not only a great idea but it is an
opportunity to visit something that is not visited,” Mitnik
said. “It is an ability to embrace differences. I can make a
positive impact by presenting challenges that the disabled face in
real life, not just because they are disabled, but challenges that
we all have to face.”