Editor

Six films from around the world about people with disabilities will highlight the first REELAbilitiesBoston Film Festival being held Feb. 2-8.
My Spectacular Theatre, a Chinese film from Director Yu Lang, will be the opening night film on Feb. 2, 2012 at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown.
Other films in the REELAbilitiesBoston Film Festival include War Eagle, Arkansas (Canada/England/US); Shooting Beauty (USA); Snow Cake (Canada/England/USA); Warrior Champions (China/US); and Anita (Argentina) as the closing night film.
“We are excited to be part of the inaugural REELAbilitiesBoston Festival,” said Boston Jewish Film Festival Managing Director Jaymie Saks. “This will enable the public to see films about the lives, stories and art of people with disabilities from around the world.”
“REELAbilitiesBoston is a unique experience for us because the films are not necessarily Jewish in content,” Saks said. “Disabilities are universal. They affect people in all communities. We want to unite the entire community around this issue through film.”

The films:
My Spectacular Theatre – Feb. 2, 6:30 p.m., Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown. A young man finds refuge in a Beijing movie theatre where all of the patrons are blind in this movie about love, acceptance and heartbreak. Directed by Yu Lang, 120 minutes. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

War Eagle, Arkansas – Saturday, Feb. 4, 7 pm, Arlington Capitol Theatre. Enoch Cass (Luke Grimes, TV’s Brothers & Sisters), a star pitcher with a debilitating stutter, has a chance for a college scholarship – his ticket out of his small-town home. But that may mean leaving behind his lifelong best friend, “Wheels,” whose cerebral palsy gives him his nickname. Based upon a true story. With Brian Dennehy as Enoch’s grandfather, Mare Winningham as Enoch’s mother and Mary Kay Place as Wheels’ mom. Directed by Robert Milazzo, 90 minutes.

Shooting Beauty – Sunday, Feb. 5, noon, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Alfond Auditorium). Local photographer Courtney Bent discovers a hidden world of beauty in people living with cerebral palsy at a community program in Watertown. When Bent begins inventing cameras her new friends can use, an unforgettable story unfolds about living with a disability - and without one - in this documentary. Directed by George Kachadorian, 62 minutes.

Snow Cake – Sunday, Feb. 5, 2:30 pm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Alfond Auditorium). Alex (Alan Rickman of Harry Potter), an ex-con on a road trip, picks up Vivienne, an eccentric hitchhiker. After Vivienne dies in a car accident, Alex visits her mother (Sigourney Weaver), a woman with high-functioning autism, to tell her the news. Directed by Marc Evans, 112 minutes.

Warrior Champions – Tuesday, Feb. 7, 7 pm, West Newton Cinema. Four Iraq War veterans turn their nightmares into Olympic dreams in this documentary. After losing limbs and suffering paralysis fighting for their country, they set out to do what many thought impossible in the sports world. Directed by Brent Renaud and Craig Renaud, 80 minutes.

Anita – Wednesday, Feb. 8, 7 pm, West Newton Cinema. Anita Feldman (an extraordinary debut by Alejandra Manzo), who has Down Syndrome, helps run her mother’s (Oscar nominee Norma Aleandro) small store in their Buenos Aires Jewish neighborhood. That all changes when a bomb explodes outside the Jewish community center, killing and injuring hundreds. Anita wanders the city for days – trusting and deeply affecting everyone she meets. Presented at 2010 Boston Jewish Film Festival. Directed by Marcos Carnevale, 104 minutes, in Spanish with English subtitles.

REELAbilitiesBoston presenting partners are J.E. & Z.B. Butler Foundation, Ruderman Family Foundation, the Cambridge Trust Co., the Saul Schottenstein Foundation B and the Nancy Lurie Marks Foundation.
Tickets go on sale in early January. Films will be $10 general admission, $9 for seniors, students and members of the MFA, Coolidge Corner Theatre and WGBH and $6 for groups of at least 10 people. Some films will have a question-answer session afterward with a guest speaker.

About The Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival presents the best contemporary films from around the world on Jewish themes at its annual November Festival and throughout the year. Through features, shorts, documentaries, and conversations with visiting artists, the Festival explores Jewish identity, the current Jewish experience, and the richness of Jewish culture in relation to a diverse modern world. The Boston Jewish Film Festival, Inc. is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit arts organization.