ReelAbilities Films
RespectAbility is happy to partner with ReelAbilities this year to recommend screenings of several films your community can watch for JDAIM 2024. Fill out this form to purchase screening rights to one or more of the following films.
About ReelAbilities
ReelAbilities celebrates disability, inclusion and accessibility through wide-ranging international films, riveting conversations, professional workshops, and other forms of visual and performing arts.
Founded in NY in 2007, as a program of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, ReelAbilities presents the largest festival in the US dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. With a flagship festival in New York, affiliate festivals throughout North America, an online streaming platform, industry summit, educational programs, and more, ReelAbilities brings the community together to explore, discuss, embrace, and celebrate the diversity of our shared human experience, and is a leader in setting the highest standards of accessibility and inclusion in the film industry.
Amazing Grace
Run Time: 55 mins
Genre: Documentary
Description: Talented young musician Grace Fisher, proficient at 3 instruments, was on her way to the world famous Berklee College of Music. On her 17th birthday, she developed Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), a rare polio-like disease. Determined to persevere, Grace sets out to find new ways to create art, driven by her philosophy: “My only limitation will be my imagination.” Featuring Justin Hurwitz, Academy Award winning composer of La La Land.
Learn More and Watch Trailer
Streaming License Fee: $200
CODA
Run Time: 22 mins
Genre: Narrative
Description: A young dancer struggles with her identity and growing up hearing in a deaf family.
Learn More and Watch Trailer
Streaming License Fee: $60
JMaxx and the Universal Language
Run Time: 13 mins
Genre: Documentary
Description: A teenager with autism turns to dance as a way to better express himself.
Learn More and Watch Trailer
Streaming License Fee: $60
The Matchmaker
Run Time: 12 mins
Genre: Narrative
Description: Sam is concerned that his aging mother lacks the social stimulation that he believes will stave off Alzheimer’s. He decides to find her a new best friend.
Learn More and Watch Trailer
Streaming Cost: $60
CW: profanity
OKAY! The ASD Band Film
Run Time: 86 mins
Genre: Documentary
Description: 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.
Learn More and Watch Trailer
Streaming License Fee: $600
Shakespeare In Tokyo
Run Time: 21 mins
Genre: Narrative
Description: A Shakespeare fan with Down syndrome sets off on a solo adventure to discover Tokyo and to prove his independence.
Learn More and Watch Trailer
Streaming License Fee: $60
Other Recommendations
Breaking Silence
Run Time: 18 mins
Genre: Documentary
Description: A deaf father and his hearing daughter explore how imprisonment has shaped their relationship and their advocacy.
Watch for Free on PBS
CW: Brief mention of rape and drug use (non-graphic)
Cha Cha Real Smooth
Run Time: 1 hr 47 min
Genres: Comedy and Drama
Description: A young man who works as a Bar Mitzvah party host strikes up a friendship with a mother and her autistic daughter.
Watch Trailer on YouTube
Watch on Apple TV+
Motion Picture Rating: Rated R for language and some sexual content.
Forgive Us Our Trespasses
Run Time: 13 mins
Genre: narrative, historical fiction
Description: Targeted by Nazis as they hunt down and murder people with disabilities, a boy with a limb difference makes a daring decision while running for his life.
Watch on Netflix
CW: Violence, Holocaust
Give Me Liberty
Run Time: 1h 51min
Genre: Comedy
Description: Medical transport driver Vic is late, but it’s not his fault. Roads are closed for a protest, and no one else can shuttle his Russian grandfather and émigré friends to a funeral. The new route uproots his scheduled clients, particularly Tracy, a vibrant young woman with ALS. Their collective ride becomes a hilarious, compassionate, and intersectional portrait of American dreams.
Watch Trailer on YouTube
Watch on Amazon Prime Video
Also available to rent on other streaming platforms.
Rating: 16+
CW: Violence, alcohol use, smoking, foul language
