Link Piece for July 1998
The
National Disability Film and Video Project
I, as the
co-ordinator of the West Midlands Disability Arts Forum (WMDAF), am at present
in the middle of running the National Disability Film and Video Project. A project set up by THE ARTS COUNCIL OF ENGLAND (ACE) nearly five years
ago and, for the first time, run externally by us at WMDAF. The Project is all about funding and
developing disabled film and video artists who use the medium of film and/or
video creatively in synthesis with the subject matter of the experience of
disability. Equally, all
projects must be from disabled people. The selection panel have had the applications and
decided on who will get the awards; production awards of up to £19,000
and research and development awards of up to £2,000. This year we awarded 3 production
awards ranging from £2,500 to £19,000, and five R&D awards of
£2,000.
There were
not as many applicants as we had hoped this year, though the figure was around
the average for the number of applicants in previous years when the Project was
in-house at ACE. What was surprising
was the number of applications for R&D awards from both beginners in the
field and those with considerable experience.
The kinds
of projects varied considerably, the precise details of which I cannot discuss
in any great detail for reasons of confidentiality. The proposed projects ranged from original computer
animation’s and creative videos on the history and experience of deafness
to a number of films utilising the metaphorical use of water and its position
in equalising disability and its powers of contrast between calm and
destruction (swimming/the sea etc.).
Unfortunately,
as is often the case, there were far too many applications that were either
outside of the criteria or somewhat speculative. As such a high profile project, and one so closely linked
with ACE, the projects must be clear in their creative vision and proposed use
of subject and medium. Even the
R&D applications must have some idea of what the subject, form and content
might be.
A fair
number of applications simply wished to run workshops to get an idea – at
that point unknown – and this is unacceptable. The awards are to fund creative pieces or the development of
specific creative pieces using the moving image. More work has to be done by many applicants before they even
consider applying. This was
especially true of groups who applied with learning difficulties. The Project is very keen to fund the
right learning difficulty project and, hopefully, more work, advice and in-put
will create it in the future.
The kind of
impairments explored in applications is across the broad spectrum of
disability: deafness; visual impairment; paralysis; mental illness; etc. The Project is not politically driven;
thus, it has funded films as much about the personal experience of impairment
as the socio-political nature of disablement. If the idea was good, the way it was to be explored
creative, and the use of the medium original it was funded. I have yet to see – I think? There has been, over the years,
hundreds of applications – a single Spina Bifida specific project. I look forward to receiving one next
year from you.
If the
Project runs again next year, as we hope it will, and you would like to receive
an application pack please write to me at ASBAH / LINK.
555 WORDS