Putting on the Pressure
Messages of Solidarity
A selection from over 50 messages received.
We wish you well in your counter party and protest on the 13th of March at the Bird's Eye View Film Festival. We are with you in spirit as you protest the discrimination faced by those involved in the film industry towards disabled persons as well as celebration of a vibrant collection of disabled filmmakers and artists. It is our hope that your celebration will positively impact the situation for disabled filmmakers. We are thinking of you and everyone at the event. In Solidarity.
Mike Gill, PhD Student, Disability Studies
Sharon Lamp, PhD Student, Disability Studies
Nina Robins-Byrnes, PhD Student, Disability Studies
Deirdre Guthrie, PhD Student, Medical Anthropology
Jon Kelland, PhD Student, Education: Instructional Leadership
David Mitchell PhD, Associate Professor, Disability and Human Development
Sharon L. Snyder PhD, Assistant Professor, Disability and Human Development
University of Illinois at Chicago
I do not believe that Birds Eye View would have been willing to transfer their awards party to a venue that excluded anybody at all on grounds of race, gender or sexual orientation, no matter what the circumstances. So why do they think excluding wheelchair users is any different?
Allan Sutherland, screenwriter
I've seen your piece on the blatant discrimination being practised by the organisers of the Bird's Eye View film festival. It reminds me of similar problems we had with the Workers Film Association in Manchester about twenty years ago (but I didn't get a bunch of flowers!), but I did think that things had moved on where access is concerned.
Ken Lumb, Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People
The National Union of Journalists Disabled Members Council should be able to welcome the important support provided by the Birds Eye View Festival for small film production companies in the United Kingdom without reservation. But we can't - as sadly the organisers have failed to recognise the right of access to disabled people, which means that contributing film maker Liz Crow cannot attend the final event. We hope that the aims of the festival are continued next year, but only if the organisers make sure that they comply with all the aspects of the Disability Discrimination Act in selecting venues which can be truly accessible to all film makers and audience members with disabilities. We wish you every success in your campaign to gain recognition of your right to be included.
Stephen Brookes, Chair, Disabled Members Council, National Union of Journalists
Greetings from Canada. We applaud the work the Birds Eye Festival (BEV) is doing to help forward the cause of women filmmakers, especially feature film directors. We were not so impressed by the choice of venue for your closing night party, which is inaccessible for persons in wheelchairs and others who find stairs difficult. We support Liz Crow and other fine filmmakers by honouring and screening their works at Picture this...film festival in a venue that is accessible to all. We suggest you consider adjusting your plans for your next BEV to do the same.
Vern Reynolds-Braun, festival director, Picture this...film festival
I was very sad but somehow not surprised that the "marginalised" continue to marginalise each other. GOOD LUCK. I am with you in spirit, have a drink on me.
Tony Heaton, Director, Holton Lee
I am flying home from NZ~ and cannot make it, sorry...good luck with it, I hope it has the desired effect...IE shaming them badly, making sure it doesn't happen again etc etc...good luck.
Matt Fraser, Actor and presenter
I have just finished a shoot yesterday and have only seen your email now. You definitely have a strong case for discrimination at your own film night. I would love to come and join the protest since I also feel that disabled women film makers are invisible. I think your protest is a great idea and I would love to get involved as a disabled film maker who faces discrimination all the time.
Sapna Ramnani, Filmmaker
I can't be there, I'm sorry, but I hope you strike a blow for disabled filmmakers and it is a fantastically successful protest.
Alison Walsh, Commissioning Editor, Channel 4
Although providers of good and services have had 9 years' notice of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requiring premises of service providers to be accessible after 1st October 2004, and despite the Disability Rights Commission's Open4All Campaign, to publicise the implementation of this aspect of the DDA as of that date, the government had to admit in December 2004 that 80% of high street shops and businesses are still inaccessible to wheelchair users. Pending widespread compliance with the Act, it behooves arts organisations wishing to comply with the Act to only book accessible premises for their events and meetings, and thereby bring economic pressure on the owners of inaccessible premises to modernise them so that they do comply. If it starts to hurt their pockets not to comply, their inertia about complying for fear of what it will cost to do so, will need to be re-examined. It could well be more costly to do nothing and lose the business. The Birds Eye Festival has let an opportunity to impress that message on the owners of the Cafe de Paris pass them by, and in doing so helped perpetuate the problem that tonight's demonstrators seek to highlight, the barriers to disabled people being fully included in society. The Writers Guild of GB will be proposing a motion at the TUC Disability Conference in May 2005 urging that arts premises which have still not complied with the DDA's accessibility requirements, must be enabled to do so by the incoming Government urgently introducing a system of loans and grants for the major works (not just to Front of House but to backstage, audition and rehearsal facilities) that would be required that would remove barriers preventing disabled people from seeing plays and films and disabled arts practitioners from working in them. The Guild would, in that context, be pleased to discuss the particular barriers that need to be dismantled at film studios and on location with the disabled film-makers organising this demonstration, with a view to seeing what we can jointly do to alter the terrain for disabled practitioners working in film. We wish you every success in your campaign.
The Writers Guild of Great Britain (the TUC-affiliated Trade Union for Writers)
The disabled film-makers group out on the streets in force tonight is to be congratulated on making this stand against unthinking discrimination by an otherwise progressive film festival. Whilst I am pleased to see a festival celebrating and championing women's film, as women directors are under-represented in the film industry, it cannot ignore championing other inequality strands as it does so. It would obviously be unacceptable to limit entry to the party to Caucasian invitees and operate a colour bar at the door. It would be equally unacceptable to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender invitees, by insisting on a dress code that signified heterosexual identity, at the door. But for an otherwise progressive festival to be unable to see that the choice of an inaccessible venue excludes disabled people from the party at the door, in exactly the same way and is equally unacceptable, is, to say the least, surprising. Did they not think to ask a disabled person to view the premises proposed for the party before booking them? On the very day Liz Crow's film is shown to help raise her profile as a woman director and to promote how women are excluded from the film industry, Liz Crow's identity as a disabled film-maker has been ignored by the same organisers as they celebrate what the festival has achieved. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that one of the things the festival has managed to achieve is to help reinforce - albeit unintentionally - the systematic exclusion of disabled people from the film industry. I particularly welcome the development of a Disability Equality code of practice by disabled film-makers and our committee would be delighted to discuss the principles and policies involved with you, when that document is ready for publication. It is clear that work opportunities for disabled writers and actors can only improve if disabled film-makers can roll back some of the discrimination that is endemic in the film industry and that your fight is our fight and that future actions will be needed to highlight other oppressive practices by arts and media organisations. It would be good if some sort of forum for disabled arts and media practitioners were to emerge from this action that could address matters of common concern and we look forward to future discussions and future actions that will define and highlight the barriers we all face as disabled arts practitioners. Let us hope that there is another Birds Eye View Festival in 2006, let us hope that it learns something tonight and does not repeat its exclusion of disabled people in the future! With all best wishes for The Demo That Disguises Itself As a Party!
Bruce Birchall, Member, The Writers Guild of Great Britain Disability Issues Committee
Really sorry I can't make it to the 'party' demo. However, we have already circulated full details to BECTU disabled members network, and be assured you have our full support. All power to your elbow!
Ann Pointon, Chair BECTU (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union) Disabled Members Network
Sorry I can't be there to show my support but I'm sending love and best wishes from Australia.
Jaz Ishtar
Its not fair that they won't let you go to their party. They should make more ramps and lifts. I will invite you to my party and it will not be down steps.
Olivia Jade, Aged 5
Good luck on Sunday. I'll be there in spirit and support.
Steve Dwoskin, Filmmaker
Liz is a woman filmmaker, and as the BEV Festival points out only 7% of feature film directors are women. Liz is also a disabled filmmaker who is excluded from the celebration party on Sunday night because BEV has chosen an inaccessible venue. I hope the alternative party outside this venue serves to highlight what exclusion really means in terms of discrimination, as well as the very real issue of physical access to this event. In solidarity.
Jane Sallis
Just landed from NZ so have only just accessed my mail. Life was pretty FULL ON so this is the first chance I've had. So sorry that you've been treated with such disregard by a powerful Media body that should know so much better at this stage of their evolution! I'm sorry that I wasn't there in person. Trust me, I would have been. I hope that our comrades turned out in full? Yours in solidarity.
Julie McNamara, Artistic Director, London Disability Arts Forum
I've been following this story with great interest and am so proud of the outcome! you go sista! I'm so glad I have 'discovered' you and now hopefully we will meet over the net. My name is Shelley and I am a South African disability rights activist/filmmaker currently living in the US where I'm studying film at Temple University. I started making films in 2003 and if you are interested I'll send you a copy of my work, which was recently screened in London at the fest and also is being screened on the same day as your work on Frida at a mini fest in Chicago.... I'm also planning to open a production company when I get home to SA next year and will be a 'sister' business in many ways to yours. We have many of the same aims, visions and dreams! So maybe we can work together in future. Ever been to South Africa? Also, I'm doing research on filmmakers in wheelchairs because its lonely out here girl!
Shelley Barry, Filmmaker
Brilliant it sounds like you had fun and a fantastic impact and some good press coverage.......... music and champagne...what more could one ask for........ (except an accessible film festival of course)
Ann Pugh, Redweather Productions
This page last modified: 07 Sep 2007