The winners of the Focus on Ability Short Film Festival were announced at a red-carpet ceremony in Sydney.
This unique film event, that puts the spotlight on people with disability, attracts submissions from around the world.
Opening the awards presentation, ambassador Paula Duncan said the film festival has entered the hearts and minds of people in small villages and remote areas across the world. There were 281 film submissions this year with 50,000 people voting. “Festival founder, Martin Wren has achieved the unachievable, and created the unimaginable,” she said.
Among the guests was singer Rachael Beircar who wrote a song about disability Can Do, that she performed for the first time at the awards.
In his speech to 370 guests Martin Wren compared disability services to rowing in a wide river, where imperceptibly at first the boat will move faster then go backwards to where it started from, because the current was against it. “And at times so is the attitude of people towards disability, it ebbs and flows.”
Wren said it was necessary to change the attitude to people with disability to achieve a truly inclusive society.
“I wanted to do more to give people with disability equal opportunities and I chose school students to start me off. Students, particularly those in years 10, 11 and 12 have a great deal of insight and fresh new ideas, so we invited 12 schools to make 12, 5-minute films. They were all exceptional because each of them has ability to move people,” he said.
The festival has grown exponentially. The SBS will screen a special program in December and film details will also be shown on the Aurora channel.
“At Nova Employment we are desperate for more people to come on board. If you have a disability and you want to work, have not worked, lost your job or are looking for a career change we have heaps of vacancies. We want people who are kind, empathetic and committed to making a difference to people’s lives,” Wren said.
For more information on employment opportunities go to: www.novaemployment.com.au
To view the Winners of the 2022 Focus On Ability Short Film Festival visit: https://youtu.be/u7-lzW3XRn8
Search the 2400 film catalogue at: www.focusonability/com/au/search
Among the winners were: School Documentary – East Hills Boys High School – Resilience; Online Open– A Heavenly Piece of Art; Online School – St John Vianney’s Primary School – About Me; Open Documentary – A Day in the Life of Lenny Seberry; Short Film – Bonnet Bay Public School – The Marrakesh Treaty and Nova Employment Choice Award – Rylan’s Story – Autism is Not a Choice.
Prizes include cash, gift vouchers, mentorships and a Toyota car.
Photo: Nova Employment Choice Award winner ‘Autism is Not a Choice’ with Martin Wren, Nova Ambassador Paula Duncan and the winner Rylan Trask and family.