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ASSETS:

SHORTS:
Moving Into Adulthood
My Opinion
Mac & Cheese
Seven
Pandora
Taco Tuesday
Andy & Kalliope
Cindy & Piper Go To McDonalds
Fantastic Ideas: Where do we find them?
Life Trials
Aphasia Superhero
Ily
One Step Ahead
Superheroes Inc
In The Mirror
Heroes in Training
Nikki’s “Weird” Gallery
Iron Sharpens Iron

FEATURES:
Bobcat Moretti
imperfect
Let Me Be Me
Millennial With A Cane
Move Me
ParaGold
The Art of Rebellion

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SUMMARIES:

Moving into Adulthood – Moving Into Adulthood delves into the post-educational life transition of two former students from Portland State University. Sawyer and Wyatt, both on the Autism spectrum, were part of the first graduating class of the Career and Community Studies four-year certificate program at PSU. Despite graduating during the COVID pandemic in 2020, both young men landed jobs at Nike. This short student film covers their journeys as they face life’s challenges as young neurodivergent adults. Documentary Short. Directed by Sarah Elizabeth E Shively & Matt Park. 19.48 min. USA. World Premiere

My Opinion – A woman caught in the “friend zone” attempts to thwart a budding relationship. Music Video. Directed by Jennifer Msumba. 2.44 min. USA. World Premiere

Mac & Cheese – An everyday hero grapples with friendship, responsibility, and the decision to eat (or not to eat) his roommates mac & cheese. Narrative Short. Directed by Amada Pinto. 5.28 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Seven – A 19 year old girl is removed from her normal life after finding out she’s the next slayer and the only one who can save the world. Not fully understanding her true destiny, tensions run high as she trains with her watcher Mr. Gordon. Narrative Short. Directed by Marie Alyse Rodriguez. 4.58 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Pandora – What if you had the ability to take any superpower in the world? Supervillain Pandora (Maysoon Zayid) has traveled the globe collecting superheroes’ powers. Now when she finally encounters Time Bender (Anita Hollander), a time-traveling heroine, and a sidekick of mysterious origins, in New York City, Pandora gets a little more than she bargained for. Narrative Short. Directed by Anna Pakman & JD Michaels. 5.44 min. USA. Festival Premiere.

Taco Tuesday – A young woman, with the ability to see into the future, uses her superpower to fight crime. Narrative Short. Directed by John Lawson. 6.00 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Andy & Kaliope – When Andy must move to yet another foster home, his case worker helps him connect to his inner superhero. Documentary Short. Directed by Crystal Arnette, Catriona Rubenis-Stevens. 5.51 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Aphasia Superheroes – For the millions around the world who have aphasia, adversity wears many disguises, but within each of those affected, an Aphasia Superhero is waiting to be revealed… Documentary Short. Directed by Dr. Gillian Velmer. 5.18 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Cindy and Piper Drive to McDonald’s – Piper and Cindy, the newest members of the Sanction Society, just want to eat but obstacles keep getting in their way. Will they save the day, and fix their hunger pains? Narrative Short. Directed by Shannon DeVido. 5.00 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Fantastic Ideas: Where do we find them? 2 kiddos come up with an idea for a superhero movie. Our cast consisted of two children born with orthopedic disabilities. They both wear a prosthesis on their leg which we call their “robot leg”. They are unstoppable. Narrative Short. Directed by Robert James Ashe. 1.41 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Heroes In Training – Four villains find redemption, and tap into their inner hero. Narrative Short. Directed by Brittany Phillips. 5.28 min. USA. Festival Premiere.

Ily – ILY is about five girlfriends in their early twenties. They are not superheroes or anti-heroes but regular girlfriends talking about what regular girlfriends do: career, dating, sex and relationships. It is this purpose for which we approached the theme of this year’s challenge. Grappling with a stalled career and dating as a disabled woman, the “girls’ night” is both typical and atypical. Neither of which is especially superheroic, which is exactly what we wanted to say. Narrative Short. Directed by Christine Marshall. 3.58 min. USA. Festival Premiere

In the Mirror – When the camera stops rolling a social media influencer is forced to face her biggest nemesis, herself. Narrative Short. Directed by Natasha Jimenez. 4.10 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Life Trials- A struggling super hero regains his confidence with the help of a wise and unrelenting super friend. Narrative Short. Directed by Tal Anderson & Vickie Anderson. 5.55 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Timor-Leste One Step Ahead – Timor-Leste, Asia’s youngest country, has taken on a massive and thought-provoking step: to aim for the full inclusion of people without disabilities. This undertaking doesn’t come without challenges. It needs people stepping up to the task. It needs heroes. Let’s meet some of them! Narrative short Directed by Lena Lenzen & José Americo. 5.35 min. Festival Premiere

Nikki’s ‘Weird’ Gallery – Nikki DeMars has a gallery showing of her artwork that is inspired by her favorite artist Weird Al Yankovic. Documentary Short. Directed by Bob DeMars. 4 min. USA. World Premiere

Iron Sharpens Iron – Iron Sharpens Iron profiles the rivalry between two of the best wheelchair basketball players in the world. Steve Serio, Team USA, and Patrick Anderson, Team Canada, have won gold medals at five of the last six Paralympic Games. The film explores how they have overcome extraordinary challenges to compete on the world stage. Through highlighting the capabilities of adaptive sports athletes, it challenges perceptions about what someone with a disability can do. Documentary Short. Directed by John Gallen. 11.31 min. USA. Portland Premiere

Bobcat Morretti – An obese multiple sclerosis patient takes up his late Father’s sport of boxing to overcome personal tragedy and find inner peace. “Bobcat Moretti” was filmed over the course of ten months, during COVID-19, allowing our lead actor to lose 154-pounds and embody the role. Narrative. Cast includes Vivica A. Fox, Taryn Manning, Sally Kirkland, Mindy Sterling, and Tim Realbuto. Directed by Rob Margolies. 96m. USA. World Premiere.

Imperfect – Imperfect is a story of artists…who live and perform with the uniqueness of disability, and have historically been denied their place in the spotlight.The documentary follows a company of actors with all nature of disabilities – from spinal cord injury to Parkinson’s Disease, cerebral palsy to autism – as they attempt an unprecedented version of Kander, Ebb, and Fosse’s beloved musical Chicago. Capturing the raw, honest stories of the actors inside the production process and outside the theatre in their everyday lives, imperfect reveals a rare behind-the-scenes look at talented artists who push to succeed as professional performers, no matter the obstacles.
Imperfect crushes stale notions of disability and affirms the human condition…in all its many forms. Documentary Feature. Directed by Brian Malone & Regan Linton. 78 min. USA. Oregon Premiere

Let Me Be Me – When the Westphal family learned that their 6-year-old Kyle was on the Autism spectrum, they feared they might never develop a real connection to their child. Withdrawn and constantly wrapping himself in fabric and blankets, Kyle was retreating from the world around him.
Determined to find a way to connect, his parents embarked on an intense and radical journey which involved compassionately joining Kyle in his unique behaviors. Twenty years later, the entire family looks back at Kyle’s journey with candor and humor. Let Me Be Me reveals what happens when a boy who used fabric as his shield to hide himself grows up to become a fashion designer, forging connections with friends and family along the way. Documentary Feature. Directed by Dan Crane & Katie Taber. 75 min. USA. West Coast Premiere

Millennial With A Cane – A young-adult MS patient joins an “invisible illness” support group, which helps her cope with her disease. Narrative Feature. Directed by L. Tanner Smith. 88 min. USA. West Coast Premiere

Move Me – A paralyzed dancer faces an opportunity to dance again while grappling with a decision to participate in a cutting-edge clinical trial, forcing her to confront hope and acceptance, body and spirit. Documentary. Directed by Kelsey Peterson and Daniel Klein. 81m. USA. Portland Premiere.

Paragold – ParaGold follows the lives of four Paralympic equestrian hopefuls as they vie for a spot on the 2021 U.S. Paralympic Dressage team. Documentary. Directed by Ron Davis. 85 min. USA. World Premiere

The Art of Rebellion – We first encounter LA-based street artist, Lydia Emily, as she creates a large-scale mural of a Masai woman in a tunnel, 30-feet underground in Oakland, California. Not the typical profile of a street artist, Lydia is 40-something and single mother of two daughters, one of whom has autism. She is also afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a debilitating disease that attacks the central nervous system and disrupts the flow of information to the brain. Lydia’s home is a haven for both her daughters. The youngest, Coco, is preoccupied with Russian geopolitics and editing Wikipedia, as autism expresses in surprising moments of genius. Dorothy navigates adolescence as she explores art and activism through collaborative works with Lydia.

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