Alex Brooker: Disability and Me

Segregation, abandonment, and the meaning of home are discussed by the people that lived in, worked at, and crusaded for one of the largest and oldest Intellectual and Developmental Disability Institutions in the United States. The facility, in its closing, challenged society's perception of those with intellectual disabilities and ultimately fought for better rights.

Yu Xiuhua was raised to hope for little from her life in the rural Chinese province of Hubei. At 19, Xiuhua’s mother encouraged her to marry a man nearly twice her age, fearful no one else would accept a wife with Xiuhua’s condition — cerebral palsy. But as her 20th anniversary approaches, Xiuhua’s poetry goes viral, and she becomes the voice of a rising feminist movement throughout China.

Sign The Show: Deaf Culture, Access and Entertainment is a feature-length documentary providing insight into Deaf culture and the quest for access to entertainment. It brings together entertainers, the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HOH) community, and American Sign Language interpreters to discuss accessibility at live performances in a humorous, heartfelt, and insightful way.

Adam Pearson - who has neurofibromatosis type 1 - is on a mission to explore disability hate crime: to find out why it goes under-reported, under-recorded and under people's radar.

Faced with a traumatic injury that renders you permanently disabled; how would you reinvent yourself? Full Circle tells the story of Trevor Kennison and Barry Corbet’s shared resiliency and refusal to let their passion for life be limited by Spinal Cord Injury. It is an unblinking examination of the challenges of Spinal Cord Injury, and a celebration of the growth that such tragedy can catalyze.

Art, activism and disability are the starting point for what unfolds as a funny and intimate portrait of five surprising individuals. Director Bonnie Sherr Klein (Not a Love Story, and Speaking Our Peace) has been a pioneer of women's cinema and an inspiration to a generation of filmmakers around the world. SHAMELESS: the ART of Disability marks Klein's return to a career interrupted by a catastrophic stroke in 1987. Always the activist, she now turns the lens on the world of disability culture, and ultimately, the transformative power of art.

As Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double in the Harry Potter films, David Holmes' work has been seen worldwide by millions of people. Tragically an on-set accident ended what David calls "the best job in the world," leaving him paralyzed. Like the on-screen character he helped bring to life, David is determined to continue seeking adventure and living life to the fullest despite mounting obstacles.

A documentary telling the remarkable human story of Stephen Hawking. For the first time, the personal archives and the testimonies of his closest family reveal both the scale of Hawking's triumphs and the real cost of his disability and success.

Being alive and having a life are two different things for Ville Jaaranto. Freedom as his dream and equality on his agenda, he sets to travel across Europe by his power wheelchair. While on his journey, he comes to realize that neither he himself nor the world around him are quite ready for it. Crazy dreams are the best cure for a mundane life.

For decades in Toledo, Ohio, Lott Industries has excelled at manufacturing small car parts. All 1,200 Lott employees have developmental disabilities, yet the company competes with traditional non-disabled businesses and achieves the highest quality ratings. When the US auto industry crisis hits, however, Lott's market is wiped out and president Joan Browne has 12 months to reinvent or close the doors. For the workers, the stakes are even higher since their jobs are a refuge, not only from the impoverishment that affects the majority of America's disabled, but from social isolation. For employees Kevin, Wanda and T.J., work is more than just a direly needed paycheck, it's a lifeline, a symbol of their dignity, and their dreams made real. The race to find a new business plan drives this engrossing recession economy drama, but it's the humanity the film restores to the balance sheet that makes A Whole Lott More such a rare achievement. Written by Myrocia Watamaniuk