Making a movie that matters

By Dan Hilborn
Published Apr. 15, 2006


Marlon Brando, watch out! A 13-year-old future movie mogul from Burnaby is hoping to take your place.

In fact, a whole lot of young people with disabilities are having a great time as they learn to write movie scripts, act and even do their own filming, thanks to a unique program that was brought to the Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion.

The open i project was started last year to change the way the public looks at young people with disabilities, says Annalee Weinberger, education officer for Pacific Cinematheque, who is working with the National Film Board's AccessNFB project on the program.

And judging from the comments coming from the dozen or so young people who took part in the program at the BACI offices on Norland Avenue, making movies is as much fun as it is educational.

"I liked acting in the film," said Simon, who helped write the script and played one of the lead roles in a five-minute digital video movie that was just being completed when this reporter showed up.

"It was fun. I liked it a lot," he said.

The still-untitled movie was a true collaborative effort. The script - which looks at what happens when an older brother and sister pick on their younger brother - was written by the entire class and is based on the kind of bullying faced by almost every child with a developmental delay.

And like all good fantasy-adventure movies, this story has a twist, said Jake, the 13-year-old star of the show who plays the role of the picked-on younger sibling.

After a series of mean tricks, the older siblings dump a bucket of toxic green goo on their little brother's head and, inadvertently, turn the smallest member of the family into a superhero. When the two bullies are hauled into court to account for their actions, the judge forces them to go disco bowling. (For those who don't know, disco bowling is that strange form of bowling that is played under black lights with loud music blaring overhead. Apparently, it is not a favoured activity for the young people in this group.)

Some people might be surprised by the fact that the students at BACI had nearly total control of their little film. The group, which ranged in age from 13 to 24, wrote the script, chose the locations, found the props and even did their own filming. Much of it is surprisingly professional, like the extreme close-up shots of the conniving sibling's hand-wringing or of Jake's face contorted with anguish.

Weinberger said the open i project is intended to help take away some of the "structural obstacles" that prevent people from having access to the media. "There are a lot of barriers for youth with disabilities who want to participate," Weinberger said. "Some are attitudinal, but some are also structural. Some (people with disabilities) can't get in a narrow door or up a staircase. Instructors sometimes think they'll slow down the program. Youth with disabilities face a lot of financial pressure, too."

But judging from the wide smiles on the faces of the film crew, the Burnaby project did a good job of eradicating those obstacles.

"I think all the people who didn't take the film course should take it," said Alex, who was excited to have one of the scenes shot inside her family's home. "I did a lot of stuff, acting as well."

And Jake, the biggest movie lover in the bunch, who has a head full of film trivia and a fog machine in his bedroom closet, is hoping the open i course will lead to even greater things. With his first acting, writing and producing credits under his belt, Jake has already applied to attend Pacific Cinematheque's more intensive Summer Vision program later this year.

A series of seven different open i projects are being produced around the province this year, and their finished products will become part of a larger educational package and documentary that will be unveiled during the Youth Symposium on Media and Disabilities this fall.

For more information, check out www.cinematheque.bc.ca and look under special projects.