Ep 065: TIFF Special: Horror, Disability, and Access
It's Halloween and we're talking about horror, disability, and access with filmmaker and navigator of the creative multiverse, Ariel Baska.
We deep dive into A Nightmare on Elm Street, Ginger Snaps, and Wait Until Dark, and discuss how each film made Ariel feel seen in some way. We also discuss their horror documentary Monsterous Me and their work as a horror filmmaker telling stories around disability through a lens of genre.
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Lastly, we touch upon Ariel's TIFF panel about festivals and accessibility (MICROSESSIONS All Access Pass: Opening Doors for Every Audience) and their work as the founder of Access: Horror, a film festival and industry summit celebrating the history, future, and impact of disability in the genre space.
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Music: Deppisch
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ABOUT OUR GUEST
Ariel Baska is a multi-award-winning, multiply Disabled Queer horror filmmaker and navigator of the creative multiverse. In their directorial debut, Our First Priority (2022), they sent a doctor to hell for telling a patient it's all in her head. The film traveled from Berlin to Mumbai to Mexico, won the Disability Advocacy Award from Superfest Disability Film Festival, and is currently playing on Alaska Airlines. Ariel advocates through film and international speaking engagements, and has spoken at National Geographic, Lincoln Center, and the Toronto International Film Festival on disability and access in the film industry.
They are the creator and festival director of Access:Horror, a film festival and industry summit celebrating the history, future, and impact of disability in the genre space. Access:Horror was recently recognized as one of the top 5 most accessible festivals in the world in Forbes.
Their work in progress, Monstrous Me, is a horror memoir and documentary feature about finding themselves as a disfigured child in the face of Freddy Krueger. The project won a prestigious grant from Virginia Humanities (2024), and the Crip Script Pitch competition at ReelAbilities Film Festival (2024).
Regardless of what story they're telling or what work they're doing, they care passionately about the margins.
REFERENCES
Ariel’s films: Our First Priority, Monstrous Me
Portland Art Museum talk: “Access as Art and Practice in Creative Projects”
Films referenced:
Other episodes you’ll enjoy:
The Big C: Breast Cancer and Mental Health - Episode 058
Causeway and Traumatic Brain Injury - Episode 042
Investigating Inequality Across Film and TV - Episode 041