We’re marking National Disability Employment Awareness Month with a conversation with James LeBrecht and Day Al-Mohamed—two founding members of FWD-Doc— a global, intersectional community of disabled creators and allies working in media to build a more inclusive, accessible, and equitable entertainment industry that cultivates and champions disabled media-makers, and elevates stories by, for, and about people with disabilities. James LeBrecht is a film and theater sound designer and mixer, author, disability rights activist, and filmmaker who with Nicole Newnham produced and directed Crip Camp-the story of Camp Jened which ignited a community of people with disabilities to fight for their rights. Day Al-Mohamed is an author, filmmaker, disability policy strategist, and a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The Invalid Corps, a documentary about disabled veterans’ contributions during the Civil War, was her first documentary as a blind filmmaker. In this podcast, Jim and Day detail the mission of FWD-Doc and the issues that it is addressing: the lack of access and opportunity for people with disabilities in filmmaking, and the dearth of stories by and for people with disabilities. They discuss the many resources they offer on their website including their robust “Toolkit for Inclusion & Accessibility: Changing the Narrative of Disability in Documentary Film,” and their partnership with the International Documentary Association to establish the Nonfiction Access Initiative (NAI), a fund for nonfiction storytellers and media makers from the disability community. Al-Mohamed and LeBrecht also talk about their career trajectories, the difference between compliance and best practices, and the need for access to be recognized as essential to diversity.
Related Resources and Content from National Endowment for the Arts
Careers in the Arts: Artist Profiles(Stories featuring disabled artists who have established careers)
Introducing a new Toolkit on Careers in the Arts: Promoting Equity, Access, and Inclusion in the Arts for People with Disabilities (Art Works blog post—July 2023)
Expanding Notions of What It Means to Be Accessible (Art Works blog post—October 2022)
For a transcript, click here
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