We Make Film project partners with Kriti Film Club to screen award-winning documentaries

We Make Film project has partnered with Kriti Film Club to screen two award-winning documentaries that explore disability, filmmaking and accessibility. I Didn’t See You There by Reid Davenport (2022) and We Make Film by Dr Shweta Ghosh (2021) will be screened on 23 July 2022 in New Delhi, Mumbai and Reading (UK).

The screenings will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and guest panellists on the intersections of disability and filmmaking and an audience Q&A.

Speaking about We Make Film, founder-director Kriti Film Club Aanchal Kapur said, “I first got to know about this film through Reena Mohan in December 2017 when Shweta was crowdfunding for it. At that time I was doing full-time caregiving for my wheelchair-bound father and mother. I remember writing to her and expressing my interest in screening it once it was ready, especially since I had experienced life of a 'disabled' father first-hand.

"When I lost both my parents in July and August 2018 and reconnected with her later that year, the film was in the making. Somehow, I messaged her in 2020, and then in 2021 when she posted about the film being ready! I have an email from her which says, 'Thank you for not giving up on screening the film :)' I first screened it [the film] online as part of the online Beyond Borders Feminist Film Festival. When Shweta approached me about doing these screenings in-person, it was an obvious ‘Yes’!”

The organizers hope that through films and conversations, audiences can explore disabled creativity, film accessibility and access to film/media education by aspiring disabled and d/Deaf filmmakers; ableism in existing aesthetic approaches, filmmaking concepts and educational contexts; as well as possibilities offered by assistance, allyship and collaboration across disabled and nondisabled filmmakers.

This event has been made possible with outreach partner Kriti Film Club and the support of the University of Reading.