CinemAbility: The Art of Inclusion (2018)

(On Cable TV, August 2020) The first step in activism is awareness, and CinemAbility: The Art of Inclusion certainly presents an impressive overview of Hollywood’s attempts at inclusiveness for differently abled characters and actors. It’s a longer history than you’d expect – Hollywood has often featured characters with various disabilities, but as the film points out, their portrayal has often been problematic – either as freaks or people to pity, often in Oscar-winning performances. Throughout its historical overview, CinemAbility tries to untangle the issues revolving around its topic – should able-bodied actors be selected over actors with specific disabilities? At its best, CinemAbility is able to feature contradictory points of view on the same topics. A very generous helping of celebrity and expert interviews pepper the documentary, discussing their own involvement in the topic and related issues. Still, those celebrity interviews often distract: they often are, after all, able-bodied actors talking about conditions that they have, at best, imitated. But then again– starpower is starpower, especially in attracting people to see the film. But even without those celebrity interviews, CinemAbility would stand as the definitive documentary on its topic – entertaining, detailed, erudite when it needs to be and easy to watch the rest of the time. Writer-director Jenni Gold has worked for years to bring the documentary to the finish line and the result was certainly worth it.