Listen to this post:

BOSIFEST International Film Festival for and by persons with disabilities is the only one of its kind in Southeast Europe and is organized by the Hendi Center Koloseum in Serbia. This is the festival’s fifth year. They have a competitive and non-competitive part to the festival. So far BOSIFEST has screened 180 films that had the life of people with disabilities as their subject or were created by disabled authors.

I love it! There are still plenty of fiction and non-fiction films being made where the characters have disabilities, but the filmmakers and writers do not. And when there’s collaboration and adequate respect for the lived experience of disability, that can be OK. (But don’t get me started on films where the character has an impairment but the actor doesn’t; this post is not about my loathing of crip drag!)

Disability film festivals always encourage disabled filmmakers to participate, and I love the mention of us here. It’s the very last two words of the press release BOSIFEST sent to me: “disabled authors.” Sigh. Gush. It was so pleasing to start my day reading that press release. So now that you know what makes me happy, here are the details you need about the festival. Please submit your films!

BOSIFEST 2014 – The Fifth Belgrade International Film Festival for and by People with Disabilities

This year’s theme is “THE POWER OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION,” and the topic is work and life of people with disabilities.

June 2nd-4th, 2014

The venue is in Belgrade, Serbia

Submissions are open from January 22nd until March 22nd, 2014. You still have plenty of time. (Click on this sentence to open the BOSIFEST 2014 festival application!)
The official selection results will be announced on Saturday, May 10th, 2014.

More info at www.bosifest.rs/en.