Entertainment · Film · 3 hrs ago
Access: Horror Festival Puts Ableism at the Center of the Scare
Access: Horror is a disability-led virtual film festival founded by Ariel Baska and co-directed with Heather Petrocelli.
It runs online from Oct.
4 to Nov.
1, with films, panels and filmmaker Q&As.
Baska, who is deaf-blind and has mobility impairments, started the festival after finding that inaccessible spaces limited their ability to enter the film industry.
The festival aims to improve disability representation both on screen and behind the camera.
Its films and programming focus on ableism as the horror, rather than disability itself, challenging the idea that physical difference should be treated as frightening.
The festival also provides content warnings, captions and audio descriptions to make films more accessible.
Early-stage filmmakers are encouraged to budget for accessibility in future projects, extending the festival’s approach beyond its own screenings.
Access: Horror is a disability-led virtual film festival focused on disability representation and access in film.
The festival runs online from Oct. 4 to Nov. 1, with films, panels and filmmaker Q&As.
Co-directors Ariel Baska and Heather Petrocelli chose horror to challenge portrayals that make disability or physical difference the source of fear.
The festival adds content warnings, captions and audio descriptions, and aims to help filmmakers make their work more accessible.
- Who
- Access: Horror, founded and co-directed by Ariel Baska with Heather Petrocelli.
- What
- A virtual horror and experimental film festival focused on disability representation and accessibility.
- When
- Online from Oct. 4 to Nov. 1. The year is not stated in the article.
- Where
- Online.
- Why
- To provide access and representation for people with disabilities in film and to challenge portrayals that cast disability as horror.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Ariel Baska traded a 15-year career teaching Latin for work in the film industry.
Access: Horror runs online with films, panels and filmmaker Q&As.
- Festival format
- Virtual
- Festival dates
- Oct. 4 to Nov. 1
- Co-directors
- Ariel Baska and Heather Petrocelli
- Programming blocks
- Edibles; The Body Keeps the Score; Dead Darlings
- Accessibility assets
- Content warnings, captions and audio descriptions
What people are saying
That reclaiming is entirely about centering ableism as the horror rather than disability as the horror
Horror is the most honest genre because that is what we are living through right now
The expectation is that you will budget for them appropriately moving forward in your career