The human rights organization for people with disabilities, The Threshold Association (Kynnys ry), has awarded Espoo Ciné’s Crip Ciné with Kunnia-Vimma honorable mention. In the award criteria, Espoo Ciné is being thanked for bringing forth the voices of people with disabilities in the programming choices and discussion panels of Crip Ciné. Additionally, it is noted that during the three years that Crip Ciné has existed, it has grown into an initiative that highlights the diversity of people with disabilities, both on screen and outside of it.
Crip Ciné is an intiative from Espoo Ciné that aims to highlight people with disabilities both as filmmakers and in the stories shown on screen. Crip Ciné’s programme and discussions aim to be curated in a way that makes them relevant for audiences with disabilities. This year, Crip Ciné consisted of three discussions and eleven films, exploring themes such as motherhood, sexuality, and ableism. In addition, director Ella Glendining, whose film Is There Anybody Out There? opened Crip Ciné this year, visited the festival in August.
This year, Disability Culture Award Vimma was awarded to writer Salla Fagerström. In addition to Crip Ciné, Yle’s series Kirjoilla was awarded with Kunnia-Vimma. The 15th annual Vimma Award is given to an artist who has brought disability issues into the social debate in an artistically high-quality way.
In the main picture: Ella Glendining and Johanna Karppinen, picture taken by Justus Mättö. Second picture from movie He’s My Brother, which was part of this year’s Crip Ciné programme.
