Did you know that around 20% of the Australian population identify as ‘disabled’ and or’ living with disability’? Despite this, a recent Screen Australia report shows that Australian television’s disabled representation has increased from 3.6 to 6.6% on screen.
Yet why aren’t there aren’t any statistics for how many disabled creatives work off screen in the Australian film industry? Filmmaker Inez Playford’s debut film, Rehabilitating is an example of how disabled filmmakers can take control of their own film sets, and shows how others can learn to approach accessible filmmaking.
Straight out of the Master’s directing program at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, Inez Playford’s Graduate student film Rehabilitating follows Ash, a person with chronic pain stuck in a rehab hospital. Unable to leave, it is through the help of Ash’s new friend Georgia that they can begin to find confidence in a body that is constantly in pain.
The film had its world premiere at Sydney Film Festival as part of the Screenability program, and its Victorian premiere at the St Kilda Film Festival this year. The film challenges audiences to reconsider their own understanding of invisible disabilities.
I was lucky enough to speak to Inez about her experience working within the Australian industry as an disabled filmmaker – and here’s what she had to say.
Could you tell us about Rehabilitating?
Rehabilitating is an incredibly personal story for me. 2019 was a particularly tough year for my health. I spent the better part of the year stuck in a physical rehab hospital, trying to recover basic functions. During one of my months in rehab I met another young patient like me. I didn’t reach out to her and have a conversation like Georgia and Ash do, but it stuck with me. What may have happened if I had? And so Rehabilitating was born.
What was important for me was thinking about how to communicate pain on screen; visually and with sound to create a visual language that expresses how pain can feel. I wanted to make audiences see through the eyes of this character experiencing pain rather than witnessing it from afar. It is important to me for audiences to feel Ash’s pain in their own way. The lack of this empathy often creates a disconnect in able-bodied audiences’ capacity to understand disabled stories.
What would you like audiences to understand about invisible disabilities?
What I found interesting when making this film was that I couldn’t find examples of women’s pain being represented in film and art. I feel as though chronic illness, especially chronic pain that largely affects AFAB bodies, has been historically, scientifically and culturally ignored – we don’t see it in art, we don’t see it being given legitimacy in scientific research… It was due to the lack of information and research around chronic pain that I had to make my own decisions on how I want to tackle this issue and represent these voiceless stories through film.
I think the thing with invisible disabilities like chronic pain is that they aren’t structural within their nature and that makes them hard for others to understand; you’re not going to see them in an X-Ray, you’re not going to see them in a scan. We are constantly searching for validation from anywhere; the medical industry, the doctors we’re talking to, our friends and family and even validation from ourselves. Often when people are feeling invalidated, they look to art to see themselves represented. It was really important for me to be able to provide that representation through this film.
Have you found it hard to advocate for yourself within the film industry?
Yes and no – I can see there is a movement within the Australian industry for change and understanding around accessibility. Screen Australia have launched an incredible ‘Access Coordinator Training Program’ to create access coordinators who will hopefully become essential on every set.
When getting the support you need, you have to be brave enough to speak up. There is always an inherent fear of asking for what you need because if you are considered a ‘burden’ from their perspective, you might not get more work on that particular set. The problem with the arts industry is that it heavily relies on networking to ‘prove your worth to people’. As an emerging disabled filmmaker that can sometimes feel harder to do. I think that’s why there is less understanding for disabled people in crew roles because lots of crew with invisible disabilities sacrifice their needs and even their performance in their roles to not ‘burden’ anyone by telling them their access needs.
I think the industry is beginning to recognise how a disability can be an asset for certain creative roles. For example, if a sound designer is blind or has low vision, it doesn’t make them any less of a great sound designer than a fully-abled person. This could actually make that sound designer even better at their roles, they might be more acutely aware of the tone, aesthetic, and sound they are going for within their work. There just needs to be opportunities for disabled crew members to try out different roles and find how their skills are most useful on set.
Some people might ask, ‘But why do we need access requirements if we don’t have any disabled people on set?’
Access needs to be considered for a whole range of things. For example 12-hour shoot days aren’t going to work for single parent families or people struggling with their mental health. We’re working in a system that isn’t set up for many people beyond people with disability. Also, 80% of people with disability have invisible disability, so you probably have disabled people on your production who are not comfortable disclosing. I think it’s really exciting to see the industry begin to frame accessibility in this way because there’s a ripple effect for all crews’ wellbeing.
How did you make the Rehabilitating set accessible to your creatives?
Because I was making Rehabilitating in a student environment, I was familiar with the crew I was working with. This allowed me to encourage the crew to be upfront with the adjustments they needed to do their best work. This is something that we don’t normally see on larger film sets. Our sound designer has low vision, so the lights on set would affect her ability to perform her role.
We were able to get a remote sound booth where she could listen to what was happening live on set without being exposed to the lighting onset. We also had a crew member with mobility disability, so we made sure we only had flat locations with no stairs. And this one really did impact everyone positively! The gaffers were so happy they could get their equipment in easily and this made the whole set run on time. This shows you how accessibility can actually help everyone!
Having a producer that was a disabled woman was a big benefit for me because she was just as passionate as I was about ensuring the crew had what they needed. She created accessible call sheets that could be read by screen readers and bigger font options. She also advocated for an accessible production schedule where we had longer breaks. These things were really simple to do yet they had a hugely positive impact on our crew. It is impossible and financially irresponsible to create a film set that is designed to cater to all disabilities and all accessibility needs because there is no reason for it.
All your crew need is the confidence to say what they need access wise. It is then your job to problem solve and cater to those specific needs. You can still do some universal things like accessible call sheets, but being specific with your crew is the best way to make a set accessible for that particular crew.
What are you working on next? And where can we watch Rehabilitating?
I am currently developing my slate for the next two years and am hoping to get some experience on larger film sets as a director’s attachment. I have another short film that will be coming out sometime next year. Rehabilitating is playing at another incredible festival (that we cannot say the name of, just yet!) However, you can follow our instagram @rehabilitatingfilm to keep up to date on where the film screens next.