Screenings And Talks Looking At Deafness And Disability In Cinema

A press release I’ve just received:

Join us at Picturehouse for a series of screenings exploring how deafness and disability has been represented in cinema. Focusing on Hollywood dramas exploring love, war, sex and societal attitudes from the 1940’s to today, this selection of films and talks delves into the history of disability on screen.

The programme has been curated by Richard Rieser, Coordinator of the UK Disability History Festival and author of the BFI publication ‘Disabling Imagery’. 

 The films being screened are all closed captioned and are:

CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD (15)
Greenwich Picturehouse: Monday 10th June, 6.20pm

Director: Randa Haines. Starring: William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie

When a speech teacher falls for the custodian in a small New England school for the deaf, their conflicting views on deafness make him question his role and attitude to his students.

Notable not only for its subject matter but for its social context, CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD featured the only deaf actor to win an Oscar – at 21 Marlee Matlin was also the youngest person ever to win the Best Actress Academy Award.

Speaker: Christine O’Mahony, disability equality and diversity expert

Book here: http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Greenwich_Picturehouse/film/Children_Of_A_Lesser_God/

THE SESSIONS (15)
The Ritzy : Saturday 15 June, 2pm 

Director: Ben Lewin. Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy

An unlikely subject – the sex life of a quadriplegic – provides insights into the mind of a man unable to translate his emotions into physical responses.

Himself incapacitated by polio, writer-director Lewin handles the subject frankly but with sensitivity and considerable humour.

In casting Hawkes (WINTER’S BONE, MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE) as the 38-year-old graduate obliged to spend half his life in an iron lung and the rest of it inert and horizontal, Lewin chose one of the most enigmatic actors of his generation, while Helen Hunt gives one of the finest and arguably the boldest performance of her venerable career (AS GOOD AS IT GETS, WHAT WOMEN WANT) as the sex therapist he hires to help him lose his virginity.

Unfailingly entertaining, THE SESSIONS may also change your views on disability.

Speaker: Richard Rieser, co-ordinator of UK Disability History Month

Book here: http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/film/The_Sessions/

 
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (U)
Hackney Picturehouse: Sun 16 June, 1pm 

Director: William Wyler. Starring: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews

Following three United States servicemen as they try to piece their lives back together and face the changes that they and their families have gone through both physically and mentally after coming home from World War II.

This multi-award winning film (including Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor) is a post-war classic and still relevant to audiences today.

Speaker: Lucy Mason, youth trainer and disability equality campaigner

Book here: http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Hackney_Picturehouse/film/The_Best_Years_Of_Our_Lives/