Oska Bright – the world’s biggest learning disabilities film festival – broke records as well as boundaries, attracting more people than ever. Lisa Wolfe of arts body Carousel reports
Oska Bright, the world’s first and biggest showcase for film makers with learning disabilities, attracted record audiences to its eighth biennial at the end of 2017 in Hove, Sussex, with thousands more following the event through social media.
The festival is managed, programmed and delivered by a learning-disabled team, with the support of arts organisation Carousel and community film company Junk TV. This time, two from the team stepped up: Becky Bruzas became festival director and Matthew Hellett became head programmer.
Festivals need to be fresh and surprising, even if they are established and people know what to expect. The Oska Bright Film Festival has championed learning disabled film-makers since 2004 and each event has seen an increase in both the quantity and the quality of films submitted. For its 2017 festival, Oska Bright made a bold shift in its programming, introducing several new strands.
Recognition and resonance
If being a learning disabled film-maker is pretty niche, imagine how it feels to also be LGBTQ+.
That was the question posed by Matthew Kennedy, a queer-femme artist from Glasgow in his passionate keynote speech, in which he described his creative journey.
“Do not underestimate that feeling that you get when you see something or someone on screen being reflected back at you to which you can personally relate. This feeling of resonance and relation is so important to folks who are not represented well in film or the creative industries in general,” he said.
Kennedy’s message gets to the heart of diversity issues in the entertainment industry. The Queer Freedom screening that opened Oska Bright shone a light on four different LGBTQ+ lives.
A sepia-toned cartoon animation may seem an odd choice to tell a love story between two men with Down’s syndrome, but John and Michael, by Canadian artist Shiro Avni, is tender and affecting without being mawkish.
In contrast, Pili and Me, from Spanish director Ignacio Garcia Sanchez, shares a slice of life. Home movies are coupled with a commentary about an aunt-nephew relationship anyone would be proud of.
The six-minute documentary Life on Two Spectrums, by Elizabeth-Valentina Sutton, provides a glimpse of backstage angst and glamour about drag queen Dan “Tia Anna” Kahn. Wrapping up this eclectic mix was Kennedy’s collage art film Versions.
Queer Freedom was very diverse but all films dealt with the themes of identity, gender and one’s place in the world – a very welcome and important addition to the festival and one that will surely grow.
In numbers …
3,634 admissions to the festival over three days
63% of visitors had not been to the festival before (up from 37% in 2015)
95% of visitors said they were either likely or very likely to attend again
The #OBFF17 hashtag reached 83,000 people
The term “Oska Bright” term reached 110,000 people, including 18,000 on Facebook in just one month
Breaking taboos
The first evening was rounded off in great style by Irish feature film Sanctuary. This won awards and toured the world – and this was its UK premiere.
The actors of Galway’s Blue Teapot Theatre Company brought humour and pathos to a groundbreaking story of a couple’s illicit overnight stay in a hotel.
Sex between learning disabled adults was illegal in Ireland until February 2017 and Sanctuary, a Zanzibar Films production, helped change that law.
Sanctuary started out as a play before director Len Collins turned it into a film and the cast’s familiarity with the script, narrative arc and tone made for assured and nuanced performances. It was a brilliant ensemble work that posed lots of questions about trust, rights and independence with wit and integrity.
Day two saw another innovation – a morning for young film makers, with a screening of 10 shorts and a chance to gain an Arts Award Discover certificate.
It’s important for Oska Bright to maintain a role in developing film-making skills in young people. Supporting creativity in special educational needs schools and organisations ensures that Oska Bright helps generate new films and new audiences at each festival.
Thursday evening’s films were grouped under the headings Dreams and Window Into Our World. Twenty-five shorts spread over four hours is quite a marathon, but the individuality of the film makers’ visions and stories maintained attention throughout.
From a rich field, I particularly enjoyed the autobiographical Celeste; she may be obsessed with soap opera stars but is a TV natural herself. Germany’s Barner 16 collective were award winners in 2015, and their music videos never disappoint; Speed and Hatch, shown in the Dreams screenings, were highly imaginative and catchy.
Aqui Possible, from Spain, starts wonderfully. It’s about Enrike, who has Down’s syndrome and lives independently in a block of flats. He makes friends with his neighbour and together they plan a game-changing advertising campaign to normalise people with disabilities.
It’s a shame an editor didn’t call “cut” at times as the film was overstretched and became repetitive, which robbed it of impact, despite the strong performances from a mixed disability cast.
In contrast, Like A Star, which followed Italian actor Tiziano on a trip to Texas, was succinct and powerful, bringing out all the nuances of Tiziano’s character and his experience in this unfamiliar place.
A woodland wander
Throughout the festival, an installation by Arty Party, Four Solos in the Wild, gave visitors the chance to wander through a woodland grove and watch haunting dance films.
Several screening sessions had aftershow chats with the film-makers and a short radio play was performed by the Carousel radio team. In a nearby venue, Carousel artists William Hanekom and Sarah Watson exhibited new visual artwork on the theme of Wonderland. This diversity of activity meant the festival appealed to lots of different people and you could dip in and out of the main space between screenings.
Friday night saw the awards party, which celebrated the achievements of winners and runners-up in different categories.
For me, the Oska Bright team were the stars of the festival. Steered by Bruzas and Hellett, the event was totally owned by those who introduced screenings, led the talks and engaged with audiences.
This kind of peer-led festival is surely the best advocate for learning disability films and film-makers. The international reach of Oska Bright is a game-changer for the industry. As Kennedy puts it: “I do not claim to be an ambassador or be the sole representative of a specific community – I’m just someone who’s passionate about the work they’re doing and putting their own voice to it and, as for the future, this conversation or movement is just getting started and we’re not going away anytime soon.”
The next Oska Bright Film Festival is in 2019. Submissions are invited. See www.carousel.org.uk/oska-bright-film-festival
Winners and presenters
Best Story: The Mask, by Sharif Persaud, Project Art Works, presented by script editor Kate Leys
Best Documentary: Life on Two Spectrums by Elizabeth Valentina, presented by Catharine Des Forges, Independent Cinema Office
Best Choreography: Four Solos in the Wild by Arty Party, presented by Jon Linstrum, Arts Council England
Best Performance: Elyse Marinelli in Checkout, presented by actor Nicholas Pinnock
Best International Film: Man Without Direction (Sweden) presented by Mark Tainton, Adult Swim
Best Animation: The Odd Funeral by Felix Swahn (Sweden) presented by Lily Van Den Broecke, British Film Institute
Young People’s Award: Monster Party by Babington, Sherborne and Oakwood Schools, presented by Mo Marsh, Mayor of Brighton and Hove (above)
Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award: Matthew Kennedy, presented by film director Debs Paterson
