CINEMA TOUCHING DISABILITY FILM FESTIVAL AND SHORT FILM COMPETITION

The Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival and Short Film Competition aims to change the picture of disability through film. The top cinematic celebration of disability in the state, the Festival features the best work of independent filmmakers from around the world, from documentaries to animated shorts to the avant-garde. The two-day event, usually held at the Alamo Drafthouse, provides a unique and entertaining way to positively and accurately view disability. The films with accurate and interesting representations of disability shown at this festival counter the negative stereotypes promoted by movies with demeaning, discriminatory and false portrayals of disability and people who have disabilities.

YOUR FILM CAN BE FEATURED AT THE CINEMA TOUCHING DISABILITY FILM FESTIVAL

You can submit your feature or short film about disability to be shown at the 2021 Cinema Touching Disability film festival. The three best films in this competition will be shown at our festival. We will also consider including any feature length disability film submitted through FilmFreeway in our program.

Awards & Prizes

AWARDS
Awards for each division:
• First Place: $500.00 USD and commemorative plaque
•Second Place: $250.00 USD and commemorative plaque
• Third Place: $100.00 USD and commemorative plaque
Awards are announced and given at the Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival
1. They are issued in US currency on a check from a bank in the the USA.
2. . The check will be mailed to a filmmaker if he or she cannot attend the festival.
3. The filmmaker must send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities (CTD) to receive the award through the mail.
4. If the filmmaker has trouble receiving the award:
a. The CTD may be able to issue a payment through paypal
b. The filmmaker must contact the CTD within two weeks of hearing about the award to receive his or her payment this way.

IF THE FILMMAKER DOES NOT RECEIVE HIS OR HER AWARD
1. He or she has 60 days after learning of the award to contact the CTD .
2. The filmmaker cannot receive the award if he or she contacts the CTD after this deadline.

The top three winning films in each division will be featured at the Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival. The films also have a chance to win the Audience Favorite Award.

Rules & Terms

Rules for Submission

FEATURE FILM DIVISION

Submissions to the feature film division can be of any genre. This includes, but is not limited to, documentary, non-documentary, science fiction, biographical documentary, and animation.

Each entry to the feature film division must meet the following criteria:

1. the film Must be received by 12:00am Monday, August 2, 2021.
2. The film must have open captions.
3. The Film must either be about, star, or be made by a person who has a disability.
4. The film must not be either demeaning or discriminatory about disability or people who have disabilities.
5. The film must not have been previously submitted to the Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival.

ANNUAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION

This is a competition for the best short film about, starring, or made by a person who has a disability. There are two separate divisions, one for documentary and another for non-documentary disability films. The best three films from each division are featured at a live screening in a movie theater at the festival.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM DIVISION
Submissions to the documentary film division must be between 3 and 20 minutes long and be about disability, a person with a disability, or made by a person who has a disability. Every submission to this division must meet the following criteria:
1. the film Must be received by 12:00am Monday, August 2, 2021.
2. The film must have open captions.
3. The Film must either be about, star, or be made by a person who has a disability.
4. The film must not be either demeaning or discriminatory about disability or people who have disabilities.
5. The film must not have been previously submitted to the Cinema Touching Disability short Film competition.

NON-DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM DIVISION
Submissions to the non-documentary film division must be between 3 and 20 minutes long. They can be a historic drama, narrative, comedy, music video, or animation short film. They must be about disability, a person with a disability, or be made by a person who has a disability.

All submissions to this category must meet the following criteria:
1. the film Must be received by 12:00am Monday, August 2, 2021.
2. The film must have open captions.
3. The Film must either be about, star, or be made by a person who has a disability.
4. The film must not be either demeaning or discriminatory about disability or people who have disabilities.
5. The film must not have been previously submitted to the Cinema Touching Disability short film competition.

OPEN CAPTIONS

Your film must have open captions to enter the Cinema Touching Disability short film competition. Open captions make films accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

WHY ARE SUBTITLES DIFFERENT THAN OPEN CAPTIONS?

Subtitles are a transcript of what the characters in a movie say while open captions provide accessibility for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Subtitles are typically used for translation between two languages while open captions both show what the characters in a film are saying and describe important background noises.

Open captions need to meet several requirements. They must be in a font that is easy to read. Lucida Grande, Arial and Helvetica Neue, and APHONT are recommended fonts because they are very legible. Open captions must also describe important background noises. This can include things such as the sound of a door opening or a conversation in the background. A noise should be described in open captions if it is important to the film.

There also must be a strong contrast between the color of the font and the color of the background. White text on a black background is usually used while some people prefer to use yellow for the color of the font with a black background. The text must also scroll at a pace that can be read without strain.

Guidelines for open captions can be found on the website of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) https://www.nad.org/resources/technology/captioning-for-access/what-is-captioning/.

12 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
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  • Cedric Hill

    During this time when none of us can gather and enjoy movies the way we like. enjoy doing. This festival was a welcome change to see movies and still feel like we were all in the same room! I had a great time the films that I saw were wonderful examples of storytelling! This festival is on the list to come back to.

    November 2020
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  • Morgan Tipping

    Great festival and really wonderful experience to be included, thanks and best of luck everyone

    November 2020
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  • Jim McMorrow

    A great festival that, despite covid restrictions, was exceptionally organized and promoted. A great organising team who were so conscientious of their aims. Thank you to them all.

    November 2020
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  • Carl Hansen

    Had such a fantastic time at Cinema Touching Disability. Was a great festival and saw some amazing films. Thank you so much for including "I/O" and recognizing it with a 2nd place prize! I hope to be back in the future!

    January 2020
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  • Thomas Grascoeur

    Awesome communication ; great festival ! Thank you so much again :-)

    October 2019
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