Cabbage, dir. Holly Márie Parnell (Digital, 24:42min, Ireland/Canada, 2023) // An intimate film made in collaboration with the filmmaker’s family, Cabbage reframes language, illuminating relationships of care at its centre. Bureaucratic violence, which can appear as gentle and bland, is contrasted with lived experience: the film centralises her brother’s writing (who is non-verbal and non-mobile) using eye tracking technology, and her mothers reflections to explore layers of power, and how to reclaim it within an ableist paradigm.

The film takes place in the months leading up to an international move from Canada back home to Ireland – a country they had to leave a decade prior due to severe cuts in disability services. Dissecting layers of language, agency and power, the film is a subtle examination of how a human life is measured and valued.

Pre-recorded conversation with director Holly Márie Parnell following film.

Touching Time: Minnahanonck/Roosevelt Island, dir. Petra Kuppers (Digital, 10:50min, USA, 2023) // A group of disabled dance artists meet on Roosevelt Island in New York City, a historical site of hospitals, mental asylums, and prisons. They dance, happy to be in each other’s company and in the shadows of people who hadn’t chosen to be here. Swirling dates and milestones through their bodymindspirits, they move with and alongside nature, sculpture, community, and the past. An Olimpias Disability Culture Production 2023.

Q&A with director Petra Kuppers following film.

Access Information:

Duration: The program includes two short films. The film Cabbage will screen first. Following the film, there will be a short 10 minute break for audience members to move, visit the restroom, get water, or decompress/discuss with audience neighbors. After the break, a short pre-recorded conversation with Parnell will play. Topics discussed include the disability gaze, embodying disability, and collaborating to create films with family/friends. Touching Time: Minnahanonck/Roosevelt Island will screen thereafter with a live conversation with director Petra Kuppers following the film. Guests are welcome to come and go throughout the screening/conversations.

About the Union Theater: The Union Theater has cinema-style chairs which are padded. Audience members are encouraged to take care of themselves during the screening. There is room to stand, stretch, pace, and other movement activity in the back of the theater. There are two doors at the back of the theater for easy entrance/exit, we only ask to be mindful of the door slamming while exiting/entering. Bathrooms and drinking fountains are located down the hall with easy access from the theater.

Location: The Union Theater is located on the first floor of the Student Union at 200 S Central Campus Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. For wheelchair access/power doors into the union, enter from the east, opposite the parking lot, go straight through the lobby, turn left along the first hallway, and go right to the end, where the theater is on your left. General parking and visitors with disability placards may park in any spot in the visitor’s parking lot to the east of the Student Union. The theater sits 100 people. We are confident there will be enough chairs for everyone at this program. For more information about the theater including map (the chairs have since been replaced but layout remains the same) please visit here.

Access: Screenings are free and open to all university and community members. The theater is ADA accessible with comfortable room for mobility devices. Trigger warnings (if applicable) will be given before each program. All films in all programs will have subtitles. ASL interpreters can be provided at the screening with at least two weeks advance notice. For accessibility-specific questions, please contact: kym.mcdaniel@utah.edu.