It has been full houses all around as the NOVA Short Film Festival put on a national screening program. Over 200 people attended the Focus on Ability Short Film Festival preview in Sydney.
Speaking at the Sydney event, NOVA Employment creative director, Ryan Goodwin said 281 film submissions were received from 19 countries with over 350,000 viewing from 45 countries.
“Your short film or documentary is making a difference all around the world,” he told the audience.
“The festival was originally designed to get Sydney high schools engaged in talking about disability and inclusion. Following its success in NSW it was extended to schools nationally and then opened up internationally. It continues to amaze me that what was a Sydney idea created by NOVA CEO Martin Wren is now a worldwide concept.”
A guest at the event was Disability Royal Commission director of community engagement, Tamara Weaver who urged the audience to tell their stories. “The Disability Royal Commission has been hearing about what is not working in the community. These films are potentially a ‘conversation starter’ for you to take back into the community and talk to people about the experiences on film you have seen today. Storytelling is powerful,” she said.
“All of you have played a part in educating through your films around what inclusion and diversity looks like and it starts with your stories. This is a moment in history for us to change the narrative of what disability looks like.”
View three of the finalists from Sydney in the videos on the F2L website – Riding with Amy, Resilience and Catherine’s Story.
NOVA CEO Martin Wren was recently inducted into Disability Employment Australia’s Hall of Fame.
Renowned for defending the rights of people with disability to secure integrated open employment at award wages, Martin believes the secret to ensuring employment for every person with a disability lies in matching individual aspirations and abilities to available opportunities in order to achieve their place as taxpayers.
Caption: Paula Duncan (FOA ambassador), Martin Wren (NOVA Employment CEO), Tamara Weaver (DRC), Sally Crawshaw (DRC), Anne Goyer (NOVA Employment general manager).