“Including People with Disabilities in the Filmmaking Process”

The 16th Belgrade International Film Festival by and about People with Disabilities – BOSIFEST 2025 took place from October 20-22 at the Yugoslav Film Archive.

As part of the festival’s accompanying program, panel discussion was organized on Tuesday, October 21, at the Yugoslav Film Archive, entitled “The impact of film on shaping attitudes toward people with disabilities”. The event opened with remarks from Dragan Nikolić, BOSIFEST 2025 selector, screenwriter and director, who shared his experience from a film workshop that included a young woman with hearing impairment. According to him, her film was just as accomplished as those of other participants — sending a clear message that people with disabilities should be actively encouraged to take part in the process of filmmaking.

During the panel, Spanish director Marta Gómez, whose film “Flying hands” was screened at BOSIFEST 2025, also spoke with the audience.

“My film tells the story of a deaf community in Pakistan. Its purpose is to encourage viewers around the world to reflect on the position of such individuals in their own societies, and to raise awareness about these issues,” explained Gómez.

She went on to say that the situation is not particularly better in her home country, Spain, where she has noticed a number of inconsistencies.

“For example,” she noted, “when attending film screenings, I rarely see subtitles — as if it’s assumed that no one with hearing impairment will be watching the film.”

Even more paradoxically, she added, in Spain the authorities determine the number of deaf people — by calling them on the phone.

In her conversation with students from Belgrade schools, Gómez shared how the idea for the film was born and how meaningful this experience has been for her personally.

“I have learned so much about human beings,” she said. “I hope that this film, and the art of cinema in general, can inspire discussions in many countries and help people realize that, even though this story is set in Pakistan — a distant and culturally different place — people with disabilities face similar challenges all around the world.”

Director Reid Davenport, himself a filmmaker with a disability, spoke about the abuse of power and the importance of amplifying the voices of people with disabilities who fight for justice and dignity in the deeply human questions of life and death.

In his film “Life after,” Davenport portrays a woman with a disability from California, Elizabeth Bouvier, who fought for the “right to die,” sparking a national debate on the issues of autonomy and the value of life for people with disabilities.

Davenport also discussed his research in Canada, where legislation concerning Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) has been expanded to grant people with disabilities unprecedented access — even in cases where their deaths are not reasonably foreseeable.