Established in 1974, Arts Access Victoria (AAV) has since become the state’s leading arts and disability organisation. AAV is dedicated to an ambitious agenda of social and artistic transformation for Deaf and Disabled people, the communities in which they live and the arts sector in which they aspire to participate without barriers.

A major artistic project of AAV, The Other Film Festival (TOFF) is a groundbreaking disability-led program that has positioned Deaf and Disabled people at the centre of the storytelling. Founded in 2004, it is Australia’s first international disability film festival and has advocated against the erasure, misrepresentation and under-employment of Deaf and Disabled people within the mainstream.

With MIFF 2023 proudly offering a suite of accessibility services and disability-focused stories, AAV Manager of Digital Innovation and TOFF Artistic Director Fiona Tuomy shares some top picks for the festival.

Above and Header: This Is Going to Be Big

This Is Going to Be Big is a locally made documentary feature that, at its heart, explores the concept of disability pride. It is a film where young Disabled and neurodiverse people are centred and respected. The students in this film recognise their value. They don’t hide who they are and, in fact, proudly celebrate their unique life journeys.

It is still rare in Australian cinema and across the screen landscape for Deaf and Disabled people to not be treated as subject matter or inspiration porn. While not a disability-led film, This Is Going to Be Big is an excellent example of respectful and entertaining cinematic storytelling. It is available to watch in cinemas (including the Sunday 20 August session, which will include an AAV co-presented post-film Q&A) and online via MIFF Play.

Fledglings

Fledglings is an innovative observational documentary from Poland exploring the life of Zosia, Oskar and Kinga, three young Disabled children who leave home to attend a boarding school for students who are blind or have low vision. Shot in black-and-white and with tight focus, the film plays with cinematic form to try to capture the intimate world of the children as they discover their new world and each other. Hopefully, the film is not in inspiration-porn territory and rises above any kind of ableism; either way, it is an opportunity to explore young Disabled lives on the other side of the world. There are in-person cinema sessions, and the film will also be available on MIFF Play.

The Tuba Thieves

The Tuba Thieves is a groundbreaking hybrid film by Alison O’Daniel, a d/Deaf visual artist and filmmaker from the USA. It’s the kind of film that Deaf and Disabled audiences seek out: it features authentic casting to explore an original and untold story and develops a new storytelling process to play with innovative cinematic form.

MIFF is presenting a Deaf-led screening on 13 August at ACMI. The session will feature an introduction and post-film discussion in Auslan from a panel of Deaf filmmakers and artists, and the film will screen with Open Captions. The Tuba Thieves will also be available on MIFF Play.

On the Adamant

Winner of the prestigious Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, On the Adamant is an opportunity to explore a unique approach to psychiatry and mental health recovery in France. Afloat on the Seine, moored by the Charles de Gaulle Bridge, the Adamant is an architect-designed vessel and mental health facility. Central to this story is the importance of art and creative practice. Although in a very different setting, there no doubt will be parallels to AAV’s SRS Studios, where we run 10 disability-arts studios in Supported Residential Services (SRS) across Melbourne.

Memory Film: A Filmmaker’s Diary

Memory Film: A Filmmaker's Diary recounts the radical world of the 1970s and beyond, where the personal is political and can give rise to systemic social change. This is the time and place when AAV was established. With our 50th anniversary next year, it is timely to revisit an origin story, albeit a personal journey, by revered filmmaker Jeni Thornley. What can we learn from revisiting the past and how can it help to shape the now, when so much more systemic change needs to take place – especially towards creating cultural equity for Deaf and Disabled people?

MIFF is offering a series of audio-described sessions for Memory Film: A Filmmaker’s Diary. There will also be an Audio Description–led session on 17 August at ACMI, where the Audio Description track will play through the main cinema speakers and all patrons in the cinema will hear the Audio Description track.