The Other Film Festival 2014

Overview

You may not have heard of it before, but Wednesday, December 3 marks the United Nations International Day of People with Disability. Not coincidentally, it's also the first day of The Other Film Festival, one of the largest film festivals on the face of the earth catering specifically to people with disabilities. Hosted in the Melbourne Brain Centre on Royal Parade, the films across the five-day program include shorts, documentaries and features from all around the world, complete with captioning and audio description options, wheelchair accessible seating and water bowls for seeing-eye dogs.

Opening night of the festival features the standout documentary Fixed, about radical advances in medical technology meant to enhance the human body. Another sure highlight, if you can handle the grim subject matter, is Canadian documentary Out of Mind, Out of Sight, which explores what happens to people with mental illness who have committed violent crimes. Classic film buffs can also get their fix with a not-so-silent-screening of the iconic 1922 vampire movie Nosferatu, in which audience members provide live audio description for the blind. Yes please.

For the full TOFF program, visit their website.