Superfest International Disability Film Festival


Superfest International Disability Film Festival is a juried film festival held in the San Francisco Bay Area. Superfest is the longest-running disability film festival in the world. In addition to featuring films developed by and starring people with disabilities, Superfest aims to be inclusive. The directors also coach the film makers about accessibility of films to people with disabilities. During the film festival, the organizers provide sign language interpreters and film narrators to allow for the attendees with various disabilities to appreciate the films. All of the judges for Superfest are people with disabilities from various community roles, including disability community organizers, disability studies scholars, and film aficionados. Superfest closely follows the disability rights slogan: Nothing About Us Without Us.
Stereotypes of disabilities are perpetuated through mainstream media and popular culture. The aim of Superfest is to showcase films created by people with disabilities, illustrating real life experiences of disability and how universal the topic of disability can be. Some film submissions are what the disability community refers to as inspiration porn. These stories are generally regarding people with disabilities completing a great feat, in spite of their disabilities, and never approach the topic of discrimination of people with disabilities or the social standards to which people with disabilities are held. Attendees express they can be authentic at Superfest and speak openly about their experiences.
Superfest is held over a weekend and is considered more of a cultural event than a film festival.

History

The Superfest International Disability Film Festival began in Los Angeles in 1970 as a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting films representing the diverse disability community. At that time, Superfest was a small film showcase and not yet considered a film festival. In 1982, Culture! Disability! Talent! took over operations of Superfest. In 1995, CDT decided to move Superfest from Los Angeles to Berkeley. Berkeley is significant to the disability rights movement and independent living.
In 1998, Superfest expanded to encompass the San Francisco Bay Area. Annual film festivals were held in Berkeley from 1998 to 2011. In 2009, Superfest held a commemorative two-day program featuring 13 disability films the committee considered classics of disability in film called Superfest Classics.
In 2015, Superfest expanded to a two-day festival and recognized the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act being signed into legislation. With the beginnings as a grass-roots organization, Superfest has not been able to have a film festival each year since its founding. The 2016 festival was their 30th film festival. After the 2019 festival, the LightHouse for the Blind and the Longmore Institute dissolved their partnership, and now the festival is run solely by the Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University.

Films shown at Superfest Classics (2009)

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The Dissies

In 2013, Superfest presented a special event. This event was to highlight films where disability had been mocked or portrayed in an insensitive manner. These types of films where disability is mocked are referred to as disability snub films. The "Dissies" mirror the Razzies, where the award given is not an honor at all. Each year, a new "Dissie" is awarded from films nominated by the community. Mock "Dissie" awards are given each year to disability snub films.
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Award winners

1998">1998 in film">1998

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1999">1999 in film">1999

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2000">2000 in film">2000

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2001">2001 in film">2001

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2002">2002 in film">2002

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2003">2003 in film">2003

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2004">2004 in film">2004

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2005">2005 in film">2005

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2006">2006 in film">2006

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2007">2007 in film">2007

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2008">2008 in film">2008

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2010">2010 in film">2010

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2011">2011 in film">2011

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2014">2014 in film">2014

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2015">2015 in film">2015

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2016">2016 in film">2016

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2017">2017 in film">2017

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2018">2018 in film">2018

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2019">2019 in film">2019

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2020">2020 in film">2020

led the film festival efforts from 1998 to 2001, after which, Liane Yasumoto took over operations. Catherine Kudlick, the director of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University, and Bryan Bashin, CEO of LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, joined together to direct Superfest starting in 2012.
Since 2012, when the Longmore Institute on Disability and LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired have directed Superfest, there has been a film festival each year, and the festivals have sold out each time.

Growth of the festival

Superfest now attracts over 300 attendees during the festival's two-day event. Filmmakers from both beginning and established backgrounds showcase their projects at Superfest. Filmmakers have debuted their films at Superfest and then gone on to receive broader distribution opportunities and further success. The film creators have expressed having Superfest as an opportunity to showcase their work is affirming.
In 2016, there were 119 film submissions for Superfest.