Hello again! My name is Alison Mahoney – I am a PhD student in Theatre and Performance Studies, and my research centers performances of disability and neurodiversity, especially as it plays out in relationships between audiences and performers. This summer, I had the opportunity to work with Film Pittsburgh as an immersive fellow for their 11th annual ReelAbilities Pittsburgh Film Festival, which features “films that promote awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of individuals with disabilities.” Though my research tends to focus more on live performance than film, this was an exciting opportunity to consider how a nonprofit organization engages disabled and nondisabled audiences around artistic programming about and by disabled communities.

My work with the festival this summer aimed to increase awareness of the festival’s exciting programming, especially among Pittsburgh’s disability and academic communities. The work had three primary valences:

1. Outreach to other ReelAbilities partner organizations: ReelAbilities is an international festival put on by community and film organizations in over ten locations including Toronto, New York City, Columbus, Los Angeles, Denver, and Mexico City. Despite its international reach, the festival’s partner venues are rarely in touch with one another. Programming, access accommodations, and audience engagement vary widely from city to city. I spoke with ReelAbilities programmers in several other cities to begin establishing a more communicative network of partner venues and to gather best practices that might inform Film Pittsburgh’s approach to the festival.
2. Outreach to academic institutions: Last fall I taught a course at Pitt called Disability and Performance on the Global Stage, and I included two of that year’s ReelAbilities films as required events on my syllabus. My students loved attending the festival and our resulting discussions were very fruitful! I felt strongly that if more university-level instructors were aware of the festival, they might make curricular connections and be interested in bringing students to the festival. I reached out to hundreds of instructors teaching courses in disability studies, film, physical and occupational therapy, and special education at the many universities across Pittsburgh, and the response was overwhelming. ReelAbilities is now featured on several syllabi for this fall, and instructors are excited to spread the word about the festival to interested students.
3. Producing community events: I produced two public screenings this summer featuring ReelAbilities films from previous festivals, both with a strong focus on accessibility for audiences. The first was a partnership with the City of Pittsburgh’s Cinema in the Park program, through which we offered a free screening of Best Summer Ever in Schenley Park. The second, a free screening of several short films, is coming up on Saturday August 26 at 5pm as part of Pittsburgh’s Disability Pride celebration in Schenley Plaza. (I’ll be volunteering that evening to see it all come together, so please say hello if you come by!) 

It's been exciting to think about audience engagement through these three lenses this summer. I’ve especially learned a lot from speaking with festival coordinators in other cities. In my academic writing, I often emphasize the geographic specificity of the disabled communities about whom I write, so it was interesting to see this play out from an administrative and programming standpoint. The physical and political geography of ReelAbilities in Columbus as opposed to Toronto, for example, certainly impacts the differences in their festivals. Further, these cities have different cultural and arts funding norms that shape the ways the festivals play out. For example, ReelAbilities in both Columbus and Toronto offer all their programming for free, whereas ReelAbilities New York and Pittsburgh charge for attendance (with the exception of occasional free programming). Each of these festivals receive distinct grant funding and corporate sponsorships with distinct priorities which dictate the ability to offer free tickets or the kinds of films that screen at the festival.

Producing free community events this summer has also been an exciting hands-on application of my research. Coordinating financial, physical, and sensory accessibility for audiences in different outdoor spaces has felt like an important practical application of my research into access for disabled audiences and how the presence or absence of access accommodations impacts audience experiences of cultural events. At our screening of Best Summer Ever, for example, we provided ASL interpretation throughout the entire film. Though only one audience member had specifically requested this service, I noticed many other audience members gathering near to the ASL interpreter and commenting on how her presence enhanced their experience by making them think more deeply about access to film.

Having worked on this and one other Humanities Engage immersive fellowship a few years ago, I am very much convinced of the value of applying humanities scholarship in professional spaces, especially those working in arts and culture. I believe our undergraduate and graduate classrooms are stronger when we can see theory in practice, and I hope that my work with ReelAbilities has begun to bridge this gap by bringing students and community members into arts and disability spaces.