Access All Areas Film Festival, breaking down disability barriers

Published on 29 November 2017

Sunraysia residents will be able to take in this year’s Access All Areas Film Festival (AAAFF) in their own city this year as the region marks International Day of People With a Disability (IDPD).

The AAAFF is now in its tenth year and aims to share the experiences of people with a disability with audiences across Australia, including Mildura.

Three screening sessions will be held at Mildura’s ArtRageUs Studio next week to mark IDPD, which falls on Sunday, 3 December:

Tuesday, 5 December

7pm

Thursday, 7 December

10am and 1pm. Mini games and an opportunity to visit Benetook Farm will be available following these screenings.

The AAAFF program showcases award-winning films from Australia, Iran, Finland, Holland and Italy, featuring a suite of accessible features, such as audio description, open captions and a kit for sensory screening.

All programs are also flashing light free and accessible for people with mobility disability.

Councillor for Community Wellbeing and Services Min Poole said the two screening days were a chance to break down disability barriers while celebrating abilities, urging Sunraysia residents to embrace the festival when it arrives in Mildura.

“It’s vital that we strive to be an inclusive community, and breaking down disability barriers should be a major part of that,” Cr Poole said.

“International Day of People With a Disability and the Access All Areas Film Festival are the perfect way to not only raise awareness of the role people with disabilities can and do play in our community, but is a shining example of how we can be more inclusive.”

AAAFF Festival Director Jacqueline Cosgrove said the festival was very much about making cinema more accessible.

“We are very mindful that we are serving an audience that has often been excluded from the experience of cinema and not only as an audience, but also as filmmakers,” Ms Cosgrove said.

“This year’s festival won’t compensate for that loss, but it will certainly place people with disability firmly in the centre of a lot of screens, across a large part of this continent, and do so in environments that are increasingly accessible.”

For more information about the AAAFF in Mildura, contact Council’s Rural Access Worker Jeni Snadden on (03) 5018 8100.

Media enquiries 
Ben Piscioneri
p) (03) 5018 8689 
e) ben.piscioneri@mildura.vic.gov.au