This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act coming into law in Britain.
We asked award-winning filmmaker Lindsey Dryden to curate a selection of wonderful features and shorts by women filmmakers for us, to mark the launch of United Kingdom Disability History Month
Lindsey Dryden (she/her) is an Emmy®-winning producer, director and writer, and the founder of Little By Little Films in SW England, which prioritises bold new storytelling by and abo folks, women and D/deaf and disabled people. As a queer
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@UKDHM #UKDHM
Lindsey Dryden (she/her) is an Emmy®-winning producer, director and writer, and the founder of Little By Little Films in SW England, which prioritises bold new storytelling by and about folks, women and D/deaf and disabled people. As a queer
Lindsey Dryden (she/her) is an Emmy®-winning producer, director and writer, and the founder of Little By Little Films in SW England, which prioritises bold new storytelling by and about LGBTQ+ folks, women and D/deaf and disabled people. As a queer filmmaker with a disability she brings an authentic route to rarely-seen perspectives. She is known for telling stories that allow audiences unique access to unexpected new worlds, for nurturing bold new voices, and for advocating for opportunities for underrepresented storytellers in the film industry.
England, which prioritises bold new storytelling by and about folks, women and D/deaf and disabled people. As a queer
Lindsey produced Sundance Special Jury Award-winning feature documentary Unrest with director Jennifer Brea (2017, Netflix / PBS Independent Lens), and produced Emmy®-winning Trans In America with directors Daresha Kyi and Cary Cronenwett (2018, ACLU/Conde Nast). She co-produced multi-award-winning Unrest VR (2017, Tribeca), Exec Produced Ahead of the Curve (Frameline, 2020) with an all-female LGBTQ+ crew, and Exec Produced The Forgotten C for the Uncertain Kingdom series (2020). She directed and wrote award-winning feature documentary Lost and Sound (2012, SXSW), Jackie Kay: One Person, Two Names for Tate’s Queer British Art exhibition (2017) and Close Your Eyes And Look At Me (2009, True/False), and she is represented as a director by Hannah Boulton at The Agency.
Lindsey Dryden (she/her) is an Emmy®-winning producer, director and writer, and the founder of Little By Little Films in SW
Lindsey is a proud founding member of Queer Producers Network and FWD-DOC (Filmmakers with Disabilities), and sits on the BFI’s Disability Advisory Board. She is a fellow of BAFTA/BFI Flare and Guiding Lights, is the 2019 Simon Relph Memorial Bursary winner and a BFI Vision Awardee 2020. She is currently producing a new disabled-led feature documentary co-directed by David Proud and Paul Viragh, directing a feature documentary about LGBTQ+ phone helplines, and writing new films.
1. THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST Directed by Desiree Akhavan and written by Akhavan and Cecilia Frugiuele, based on the novel by Emily M. Danforth. Sasha Lane plays Jane Fonda. Available on BFI Player and Netflix with closed captions.
Lindsey Dryden (she/her) is an Emmy®-winning producer, director and writer, and the founder of Little By Little Films in SW
The first film on my list of screen stories that include powerful, layered and authentic portrayals of disability is 2018 feature film The Miseducation of Cameron Post. It’s queer, compassionate, provocative, affecting and inclusive. It’s made by a team I admire, and it made my body ache with recognition at both the hostility and the beauty that its young queer characters encounter. Crucially, it features a queer BIPOC character (Jane Fonda, played by Sasha Lane) who has a prosthetic leg, and whose disability is neither her drama nor her salvation in this story. TMoCP avoids the tired tropes that so many films still wheel out when they include D/deaf or disabled characters.
Jane is not pitiable, inspirational, brave, nor wracked with self-hate. She is a rich, whole character whose disability receives small mention compared to her enthusiasm for growing ditch weed. She happens to live with a disability, is quietly supported by her friends Cameron and Adam when she needs it (whilst supporting them with their own circumstances), and her bodily experience is just one of the layers of her character. It’s this kind of delicate authenticity that allows your heart to soar in the film’s exquisitely moving final scenes.
Lindsey Dryden (she/her) is an Emmy®-winning producer, director and writer, and the founder of Little By Little Films in SW
2. THIS CLOSE Written by and starring deaf creators Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman. Available on Sundance Now via Amazon with closed captions. Series trailer: HERE
Lindsey Dryden (she/her) is an Emmy®-winning producer, director and writer, and the founder of Little By Little Films in SW
Quite honestly, I sobbed with delight when I first saw the trailer for deaf creators Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman’s dramedy series This Close. I am ‘deaf with a small d’, having experienced hearing loss as a child, using English as my first language, relying a lot on lipreading, and having limited early exposure to BSL (British Sign Language). But this series — created by writer/actors Stern and
Feldman who use ASL (American Sign Language) as their first language and live in both the D/deaf and hearing worlds — welcomes me as a ‘small-d’ deaf person, and it welcomes any and everyone else too. This Close is playful, hilarious and heart-rending. It’s full of spirit and insight as its protagonists Kate and Michael messily and relatably navigate their work, families, and straight and queer
relationships. It’s bold and mouthy, unafraid of discomfort, and doesn’t hold back in taking down the endless “You’re so inspiring!” platitudes that D/deaf and disabled people have to fend off from non-disabled folks. It’s both about D/deafness and not about D/deafness at all. It’s an authentic piece of work by the creators who should be empowered to make it, and whose team includes D/deaf talent in decision-making roles. And it’s bloody hilarious.
3. SINGLE Written and directed by Ashley Eakin, produced by Connie Jo Sechrist. Available with captions and audio description here.
Dryden (she/her) is an Emmy®-winning producer, director and writer, and the founder of Little By Little Films in SW
This narrative short and ‘anti-romantic comedy’ premiered online after being selected for SXSW 2020, and won the Special Jury Recognition Award at SXSW, as well as Best Style at Brooklyn Film Festival 2020. It follows one night in the life of Kim, a foxy 20-something, as she gets ready for and goes on a blind date. I’ll leave you to discover why she’s so furious about the man she’s been set up with, and just say that the film is refreshingly irreverent and delightfully sardonic. I love this film for its relatable woman character, her unapologetic fury and frustration, her commitment to being herself in all its messiness, and her relatable wrestling with both other people’s microaggressions and her own internalised ableism. Single’s two disabled actors are stars-in-the-making, and the film is a stylish and long-overdue look at the nuances and tensions of modern dating life, created by a woman director with a disability. Plus, the film’s website features resources and reflections on disabled dating and directing. Ashley Eakin is one to watch. HERE
4. THE FORGOTTEN C Directed by Molly Manning Walker, produced by Jessi Gutch and co-written by Jessi Gutch and Molly Manning Walker. Available with closed captions.
Lindsey Dryden (she/her) is an Emmy®-winning producer, director and writer, and the founder of Little By Little Films in SW
Even if I hadn’t had the pleasure of Exec Producing this film commissioned by the Uncertain Kingdom, I would put it on this list. Jessi Gutch and Molly Manning Walker wrote this powerful short together in honour of Jessi’s experience with incurable ovarian cancer, and to shine a light on the experience of the people in her community who were facing cancelled treatment and premature death due to the pandemic’s impact on NHS oncology services. Both Molly and Jessi are brilliant emerging talents, and Jessi has come to identify with the disabled community through her experience of serious illness. As a new producer who was shielding during the pandemic and telling an incredibly personal story, Jessi strove to create a safe, inclusive and healthy shooting environment that was COVID-safe, and we believe this is something that any future production can benefit from (not least because healthy, ethical work environments benefit all members of the team, whether disabled or not). The film itself is delicate, deft and beautiful. Its impact is already being felt within cancer organisations and communities. During production we all had the rare experience of being moved by every single draft and cut, however many times we’d seen it; an unusual and precious thing. So I highly recommended this very moving film, even and especially in these challenging times, for its authenticity, heart, and rich performances by Mandeep Dhillon, Charlie Rowe, Anil Goutam, Ruchika Jain, Saskia Chana and Ronke Adekoluejo. Watch HERE.
FINAL NOTE
when potential financiers and execs realise that we have unconventional experiences of our bodies.
It’s worth saying that in an ideal world this list would include many pieces of cinema written, directed and/or based on a work by women that feature brilliant, layered and authentic portrayals of D/deafness and disability. But in reality there are startlingly few available. There are a few more films written and/or directed by D/deaf and disabled men. But even fewer by Black and Brown artists. And we don’t know how many brilliant films feature D/deaf and disabled talent who choose not to disclose their disability; it is still considered risky to acknowledge disability in the film industry, and many of us have experienced rejection, suspicion and mistrust
when potential financiers and execs realise that we have unconventional experiences of our bodies.
As a writer and director who happens to have a disability, I want to be part of changing that. And I also want to salute and celebrate the work of fellow D/deaf and disabled women and non-binary writers, directors and actors in the UK whose work we all deserve to see more of, including Kim Tserkezie, Kyla Harris, Ella Glendining, Celestine Frazer, Jacqui Adeniji-Williams, Sam Renke, Melissa Johns,
Dominique Variety Davis, Shani Dhanda, Cherylee Houston, Ruth Madeley, Genevieve Barr, Liz Carr, Lisa Hammond, Amy Conachan, Talia Grant and Francesa Martinez.
Check out our recent BFI Press Reset campaign for more info on making films and the industry authentic and accessible, and to meet more D/deaf and disabled talent. HERE
We invite you to join us at FWD-Doc, a film advocacy organisation that seeks to increase the visibility of, support for, and direct access to opportunities, networks, and employment for D/deaf and disabled filmmakers, and to serve D/deaf and disabled film audiences. We believe in an inclusive definition of disability and welcome anyone who identifies as part of the community: whether with physical
disabilities, D/deafness, blindness or low vision, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, chronic health conditions, mental illness and/or neurodiversity. We also welcome non-disabled allies who are committed and working actively for equity and access in the film industry for D/deaf and disabled filmmakers and audiences. HERE
@Lindsey_Dryden @LBL_Films
