Unity Film Festival 2024

Friday 8 November

Friday 8 November.

Unity Film Festival presents an exciting, diverse selection of inclusive features and shorts created by and with learning disabled and autistic creatives and actors, alongside Q&As and panel discussions.

View Friday’s programme below. You can book tickets to individual screenings for £8 / £5.

Or by a day-pass for £25 / £17.50. Buying a day pass allows you entry to all screenings on your chosen day for a hugely discounted price.

Session 1.

11am – 12.30pm

Autisme: Le Petit Chasseur de Fantômes

Tom is 12, autistic, and determined to be a ghost hunter when he’s an adult. His father wonders what the world might hold for him, so embarks on a journey to meet autistic adults around the world and learn about their lives. A beautiful, honest and intimate documentary from France.

France / 2021 / adv 12A / 58 mins / Mickey Mahut

Also the short films:

Heavy Metal is for Life
Wales / 2023 / adv U / 3 mins / Jacques Colgate.

Content warning: some brief flashing imagery. As part of Public Health Wales’s Hapus project, Jacques reveals the things in his life that make him happy, the people who figure most prominently, and the music that drives him.

The Matthew Purnell Show
Wales | 2020 | PG | 24 mins | Daniel McGowan.

Another chance to catch Hijinx’s rambunctious comedy, set behind the scenes of a fictional TV show, where everything is going wrong and it’s down to Zoe the runner and Hannah the producer to try and save the day.

Autisme: Le Petit Chasseur de Fantômes

Industry Event – How Far Have We Come?.

2.30pm – 3.30pm

7 years ago, Hijinx launched their 7 Casting Standards for the screen industries around inclusive casting practices.

Since then, there have been several notable success stories: Craith/Hidden here in Wales, Ralph & Katie filming in England… but should the industry have moved further along? Are the 7 Casting Standards still applicable? Should they be reinforced, changed or discarded?

Join us as we discuss the changing TV and film access landscape, recap the past few years and look to the future, with guest panelists from producers to directors, funders to writers, and clips from upcoming projects.

Feature Session 2.

3.45pm – 5.45pm

Otto Baxter Double Bill

The first ever short film written and directed by someone with Down’s syndrome – the vastly talented Otto Baxter – The Puppet Asylum fuses horror, dark comedy, an evocative soundtrack and a foul-mouthed ventriloquist’s dummy. A macabre story of a misunderstood child on a path to controlling their own life, The Puppet Asylum is accompanied by the multi-award-winning documentary Otto Baxter: Not A F***ing Horror Story, charting the process of bringing Otto’s vision to life, and the pitfalls along the way.

Content warning: strong language and some graphic images.

Not a F***ing Horror Story
UK / 2023 / 15 / 1hr 24 mins / Peter Beard & Bruce Fletcher

The Puppet Asylum 
UK / 2023 / 15 / 28 mins / Otto Baxter

Not a F***ing Horror Story

Shorts Session 1.

6pm – 7pm

Comedy, drama, documentary and chillers combine in this first session of shorts, with films from Wales, Australia, Belgium and England. Content warning: very strong language and offensive terminology. There will be a short Q&A after the films.

Glitch
Wales / 2022 / adv 15 / 14 mins / Daniel McGowan

Content warning: some strong language. When a new router arrives, Tom thinks it’s the end of his lockdown wifi woes, but his troubles are only just beginning…

Downside Up
Belgium / 2016 / adv PG / 15 mins / Peter Ghesquiere

Downside Up reveals a world in which everyone has Down’s syndrome. One day, Eric is born, a boy who’s different. Multi-award-winning short from Belgium.

On Happiness
Wales / 2023 / adv U / 3 mins / Bethany Freeman

Actor and dancer Bethany Freeman explores the things that bring her joy in life, and how she finds her happiness. Documentary commissioned by Public Health Wales.

Ratbag
Australia / 2022 / adv 12A / 9 mins / Andrew Kavanagh

Content warning: some swearing. School troublemaker Kyle spends another day in detention waiting for a dressing-down from the elusive headmaster. With one final act of rebellion, might Kyle have the last laugh?

Joy Uncensored
UK / 2024 / adv 18 / 16 minutes / Natasha Hawthornethwaite

Content warning: swearing and offensive, discriminatory terminology. After 64-years of living life quietly, retired school teacher Joy France is on a mission to be heard. Can she break gender and age stereotypes by competing in the brutal, youthful, male-dominated world of battle rap? Or is she too notoriously O.L.D?

Downside Up

Feature Session 3.

8pm – 10pm

Champions

A former minor-league basketball coach receives a court order to manage a team of players with learning disabilities. Despite his doubts, he soon realises that together they can go further than they ever imagined. A hilarious and touching comedy from Bobby Farrelly, starring Woody Harrelson and a supercharged bunch of newcomers.

USA / 2022 / 15 / 124 mins / Bobby Farrelly

Champions