Festival shows films about and by people with disabilities

The film 'Anita' will be screened May 19
The film 'Anita' will be screened May 19

Years after the Toronto Jewish community committed to making synagogues more accessible to those who are differently abled through the annual Shabbat Itanu initiative, a “complementary, but separate” event is being held in Toronto for the first time.

The REELabilities Film Festival, founded in 2007 in New York by the JCC in Manhattan to present films by and about people with disabilities, made its Toronto debut on May 12.

“It’s in 13 cities across the U.S. and we are the first international location. We are so excited. We have 27 community partners, film festival partners and accessibility organization partners,” said Liviya Mendelsohn, the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre’s manager of accessibility and inclusion and the artistic director of the REELabilities Toronto Film Festival.

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The festival is an opportunity to “tell some of these beautiful and interesting stories that haven’t had as wide an audience yet,” she said.

Although the film festival is new, the Shabbat Itanu event it complements is not.

Shabbat Itanu, which was held this year on May 13 and 14, is an annual event that calls on synagogues to hold inclusion-themed Shabbat services and programs to highlight the need for greater inclusion and accessibility.

Mendelsohn said there are 23 synagogues in the GTA that marked this event in some way.

“Several shuls have community members with disabilities and disability advocates speaking on how to remove barriers and helping them figure out what the barriers are. I know a couple of shuls that are having a scholar in residence to talk about Judaism, Jewish texts and accessibility,” she said.

Offering an example of one of the programs, she said that on May 14, Shaarei Shomayim hosted Judge Richard Bernstein, the first blind justice elected to the Michigan Supreme Court and an advocate for disabled rights, as he shared his personal story with the congregation.

“There are some really exciting programs, and some shuls are reaching out to younger activists, but it’s a great time for people with disabilities to take centre stage in their shul and talk about their experience and how the whole community can embrace difference.”

Mendelsohn said the event also brings congregations together for one cause.

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“It’s been tremendous to watch shuls mentor each other, helping each other to do things like apply for grants to renovate their facilities… Several shuls have accessibility tips in their weekly or monthly newsletters, and it’s really been wonderful to watch this organic process where people are working together and sharing across denominations, across all kinds of differences.”

What brings Shabbat Itanu and the REELabilities Film Festival together is the fact that a number of congregations bought group tickets to attend the screening of two films that touch on Jewish themes.

Deaf Jam [which took place May 16 at the Al Green Theatre] is about a young Israeli teen in New York who is deaf. She discovers American Sign Language poetry and enters into this slam poetry scene in New York where she meets a young Palestinian poet and they begin to make poetry together. It’s a really beautiful story,” Mendelsohn said.

The other Jewish-themed film, Anita, which will be screened May 19 at the Al Green Theatre, is about a young woman with Down syndrome who gets separated from her mother following the bombing of the JCC in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“The role is played by an actor with Down syndrome… It’s a journey of hers throughout the city and a coming-of-age story. It’s beautifully acted.”

Some of the films are presented by Jewish organizations including the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, the Toronto Jewish Film Society and Reena.


For more information or to buy tickets, click here