Join Rory Culkin and RJ Mitte Announced as Special Guests at the 7th Annual Reelabilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Monday, 09 March 2015 20:15

Written by Janet Walker

The largest edition of ReelAbilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival in the festival’s history has just added two more names to its celebrated guest speakers, panelist, and supporter schedule. Opening night, March 12, 2015, at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum will include a performance by The Voice Season 7's Blessing Offor.

Rory Culkin, whose lead performance in Lou Howes' directorial debut, Gabriel, was named "electrifying" by Variety Magazine, will discuss his role in the film after the film's screening at JCC Manhattan.  The festival's closing night event will include welcoming remarks from Breaking Bad's RJ Mitte along with a special comedy night featuring performers and comedians with disabilities. 

Following the NY premiere of The Finishers, Professor Annette Insdorf will engage in conversation with award-winning director, Nils Tavernier. 

Every film at the ReelAbilities film festival is followed by a conversation, as way of further engaging the community with the important topics presented in the films.  Panel discussions and conversations follow each of the festival's 100+ screenings and events presented throughout the New York Metro area.  

For a full list of festival speakers, visit: http://ny.reelabilities.org/guests

ReelAbilities will be marking the 25th anniversary of the ADA with a Friday night dinner and screening of three films: The Astronaut's Secret, On Beauty, and Riding My Way Back, accompanied by a discussion on New York City's path to disability rights with historian Warren Shaw and Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein, moderated by Lawrence Carter-Long (Co-Host of TCM's The Projected Image.)

This is one of over a dozen special events that the festival will be hosting, which include a disability filmmaking workshop with DCTV, art exhibits, author talks, and more.

A full list of festival events, visit: http://ny.reelabilities.org/events 

Presented by JCC Manhattan, ReelAbilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival is the largest festival in the country dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different abilities. The festival presents award-winning films in NY and 12 additional cities throughout the USA. Discussions and other engaging programs bring the community together to explore, discuss and celebrate the diversity of our shared human experience.

Leading the way in accessible film and culture, ReelAbilities is presented in all accessible venues, providing captions, audio description, ASL interpretation, CART (live captioning), and information in Braille. 
 
Past festival guests include Sigourney Weaver, Mat Fraser, Geri Jewell, Danny Woodburn, John Hockenberry, Ben Lewin, and many others who have moderated and participated in post-screening conversations. These conversations are a core component of the festival, furthering audience understanding and consciousness about ideas raised in the films while providing a platform for in-depth discussions and audience interaction with filmmakers, actors, and issues portrayed in the films.
 

About The JCC in Manhattan
Located on 76th Street and Amsterdam, the JCC is a vibrant non-profit community center on the Upper West Side. The cornerstone of progressive programming in Manhattan, the JCC serves over 55,000 people annually through 1,200 programs each season that educate, inspire, and transform participants' minds, bodies, and spirits.  Since its inception, the JCC has been committed to serving the community by offering programs and services that reach beyond neighborhood boundaries.  Programs at the JCC reach people at all stages of their lives, and serve the entire family and community.