Hot Docs has teamed up with the IDA to open a conscious-raising conversation: how can festivals empower doc creators working with a disability and create a welcoming hub for audiences with all abilities?
Seating is limited and provided on a first-come, first-served basis. If you require accessibility support to access this session, please contact Hot Docs Industry.
Supported by The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation.
MODERATOR
Claire Aguilar, Director of Programming and Policy, IDA (International Documentary Association)
Claire Aguilar is Director of Programming and Policy at International Documentary Association (IDA). At IDA she oversees IDA’s professional development, education, mentorship and training initiatives. She serves as the primary programmer for IDA’s biennial “Getting Real” conference which is next scheduled for September 2020. She sets strategy around IDA’s policy and advocacy work supporting filmmakers around a range of issues.
SPEAKERS
Irene Brodsky, Filmmaker, Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements
Irene Taylor Brodsky is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker. Her most recent feature documentary, Beware the Slenderman, was nominated for a 2018 Emmy and received two Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Director and Best Documentary. Also in 2018, for The New York Times Op-Docs she published Between Sound and Silence, and her current short film, Homeless: The Soundtrack won Special Jury Mention at Tribeca and Best Short at Nantucket. Her first feature documentary, Hear and Now, won the Audience Award at Sundance in 2007 and a Peabody. Her other award-winning films include Open Your Eyes (2015), One Last Hug: Three Days at Grief Camp (2014), Saving Pelican 895 (2011), and The Final Inch (2009). Irene has also worked as a news journalist, a Himalayan mountain guide, and made numerous television documentaries. She is a graduate of New York University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Jason DaSilva, Producer/Director, AXS Lab
Jason DaSilva has been a prolific filmmaker for the past 15 years. He has directed four short films (Olivia’s Puzzle, A Song For Daniel, Twins of Mankala, First Steps) and two feature length-documentary films (Lest We Forget and When I Walk). His films have had national broadcasts on PBS, HBO, and CBC. Jason's film When I Walk won a 2015 Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Programming, was an official selection of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won Best Canadian Feature at Hot Docs 2013. Jason also runs AXS Map, a website and accessibility database to find disability friendly places around the world.
Liv Mendelsohn, ReelAbilities Toronto Film Festival/Miles Nadal JCC
Liv Mendelsohn is Director of Accessibility and inclusion at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, and Artistic Director of the ReelAbilities Toronto Film Festival. The MNjcc has been recognized as by the Ontario Non-Profit Network as a provincial accessibility best practice case study organization, and has emerged as a hub of inclusive arts and culture. Passionate about building accessible communities engaged in the arts with a focus on youth with disabilities, Liv is an advisor to EnAbling Ontario, and the Our Doors Are Open Ontario multi-faith inclusion project. Liv is also a 2018 Civic Action DiverseCity Fellow, and a 2018-2019 mentor for the AFP Fellowship in Inclusion and Philanthropy. Liv holds a Master of Arts and a Master’s in Education. She is a field instructor for the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto.
Isaac Meyer Odell, Director of Production, Hot Docs
Isaac Meyer Odell has been with Hot Docs for over 15 years overseeing technical operations for initiatives like the Hot Docs Festival, the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema and the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers. He is leading Hot Docs’ accessibility initiatives.