COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
University Seminar on Disability Studies

Embodying Sexuality: Disability in Film

Presented by:
Lawrence Carter-Long
Curator, The disTHIS! Film Series: disability through a whole new lens
Discussant: 
Alice Sheppard, dancer with the AXIS Dance Company
When:
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Free and open to the public.  Dinner at Faculty House to follow (see below)*

Location: Alfred Lerner Hall, Room TBA
Enter the Columbia Campus at 115th Street and Broadway,
follow path to building entrance on right.

Don't miss your chance to experience three ground-breaking, audience favorites from NYC's own unique disTHIS! Film Series.  These sometimes startling films from the UK explore disability, sexuality, dance, relationships, theatricality and much more!

About the films:


North Face, 9 Minutes
Written by Lizzie Mickery and directed by Marc Jobst as part of the BBC's "What's Your Problem?" series. Starring Lisa Hammond and Ralf Little, "North Face" explores a young disabled woman’s reaction to a male neighbors embarrassment after they become sexually entangled. After weeks of ignoring each other, when Paul gets locked out of his flat, only Cat can help him get back in. Suddenly, Paul is forced to face the complex feelings he has for a disabled woman.  Can he?  Will he?  And what does Cat really think about their liaison?


Urban Myth, 9 Minutes
Written by Simon Mirren and directed by Ewan Marshall, as part of the BBC's "What's Your Problem?" series.  "Urban Myth" features Saffron Burrows and Mat Fraser as old school friends who bump into each other as adults. Max has always had feelings for Niki but because of his disability has never approached her. Now years later, Niki is leaving on a plane for New York in the morning and Max has only a few hours to grab his second chance with the woman of his dreams. Why didn't it happen for them then? And will it happen now? A unique disability twist on a story you may well have heard from a friend of a friend. 


The Cost of Living, 35 Minutes
DV8's work is about taking risks. It is about personal politics, about breaking down barriers between dance and theatre, and above all, about communicating ideas and feelings clearly and unpretentiously.  British physical theatre company DV8’s Lloyd Newsom presents a film adaptation of “The Cost of Living” their dazzling, rave-reviewed show about perfection and pretence, about how society measures individuals and how we in turn, value ourselves. David and Eddie are street performers struggling to get by in a seaside town. As they work, argue, fail at romance and fall out with old friends, they ponder their lives.  A stunning accomplishment, “The Cost of Living” takes place in the twilight zone between who we are and who we think we ought to be.

From the New York Times review:

This is a piece about something, and someone, who is great, about what a profound pleasure it is to encounter greatness, and about what a persistent concern it is that we live in a culture, more specifically a dance culture, that resists such greatness.

From Toronto Now:

The movement arises out of character and situation, whether it's a guy in a nightclub whose nervous tics take over his body, or a woman fighting off a group of boys with a hoola hoop.

The film's most memorable moments involve David Toole, a legless dancer who seduces us in a bar, fights off a bigot, dances with a ballerina and shares the film's extraordinary final image.

The University Seminar on Disability Studies is free and open to the public.

*Buffet dinner (optional) after seminar ($22).*

Please RSVP to dsseminar@... for event and/or dinner by November 8, 2006.

Space is limited; RSVP does not guarantee a place. With generous support from the Columbia University Office of Disability Services

If making requests for parking or other accommodations, please reply by November 1, 2006.   Parking is available for a fee of $15.