Anna Smith speaks to Lily Ahree Siegel, director of Equal Play, a new short documentary that discusses the importance of equal access to school sports for disabled children. Anna is also joined by Lindsey Dryden, director, writer, producer, executive producer, as well as co-founder of FWD-DOC, and Clare Baines, the BFI’s Inclusion Partner, to talk about equal access within the film industry and the bigger issues touched on in Equal Play.

First, Clare discusses her personal connection to the documentary, revealing to Anna how losing her eyesight at 15 affected her ability to participate in school sports. Clare also advocates the importance of educating kids about their bodies. As a disabled woman in the film industry, Lindsey highlights the inaccessibility of disabled people entering the world of entertainment. She questions the disparity between disabled stories in documentaries vs narratives and encourages more joyous cinematic portrayals of the disabled experience. Lindsey and Clare share their favourite film depictions that capture the disabled experience. They also call for a disability revolution including more on-screen celebrations about disabilities.

Next up, Lily Ahree Siegel discusses her background within the arts and what inspired her to become a documentary filmmaker. Lily highlights access to PE and sports as an issue affecting kids worldwide, discusses the importance of inclusion passports, and shares her favourite moment on set.

Equal Play is available to watch on Channel 4 - https://www.channel4.com/programmes/equal-play

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This episode is brought to you by Harder Than You Think.

Films/TV Shows/Books mentioned:
The Gleaners and I (Agnes Varda)
We Might Regret This (created by Kyla Harris) - available on BBC
The Callers (Lindsey Dryden)
Lost In Sound (Lindsey Dryden)
Coda (Sian Heder)
Trans In America (produced by Lindsey Dryden and Shaleece Haas)
Unrest (Jennifer Brea)
Patrice: The Movie (Ted Passon) - available on Hulu and showing at LFF 2024
Crip Camp (James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham) - available on Netflix
I Didn’t See You There (Reid Davenport) - available to rent on Apple TV, Prime Video, and Google Play
Is Anybody Out There (Ella Bee Glendining) - available on ITVX and Netflix
The Tube Thieves (Alison O’Daniel) - available on PBS
Feminist, Queer, Crip by Alison Kafer

Websites mentioned: TV Access - https://www.channel4.com/4producers/creative-equity/tv-access-project
Sins Invalid - https://www.sinsinvalid.org/blog/10-principles-of-disability-justice
FWD-DOC - https://www.fwd-doc.org/
TripleC - https://triplec.org.uk/
DANC - https://triplec.org.uk/danc/
Deaf and Disabled People in TV - https://www.ddptv.org/

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