By Shelby Shaw
In a world where accessibility has yet to be built into many of our societal processes, it remains vital to champion visibility for stories from disabled artists. The following short films and features screening at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival both uplift artists with disabilities and underline the ways in which a society that continues to fall short of accessibility standards affect the many — and various — individuals living with disabilities today. Increasing visibility for people with disabilities is crucial in order for audiences to grasp their unique perspectives and experience their art.
Read on to find Festival titles — both fiction and nonfiction — that center artists or characters with disabilities. Single Film Tickets are available here — make sure to get yours before they’re gone!
SHORT FILMS
Ragamuffin (Short Film Program 3) — Former motocross champion Kaitlyn Mikayla writes and directs this narrative short film that utilizes candid footage of a race park and her own childhood racing memorabilia to tell the story of a 12-year-old motocross racer spending yet another weekend at the track with her dad. As her deafness and girlhood become topics of conversation, the racer is faced with the many facets of her own identity. Available to watch in person and online as part of Short Film Program 3.
Unholy (Short Film Program 1) — Writer-director Daisy Friedman, a multi-organ transplant recipient, was inspired by her Jewish upbringing and childhood experience with a feeding tube to craft this story of Noa (Olivia Nikkanen), who attends her first Passover Seder after being put on a tube for a gastrointestinal disorder. Through confronting the loss of the culinary traditions and rituals that had meant so much to her before, Noa finds a new way to connect with her spirituality and her family. Available to watch in person and online as part of Short Film Program 1.
View From the Floor (Documentary Short Film Program) — Musician, actor, and filmmaker Mindie Lind co-directs this animated documentary short with Megan Griffiths in which Lind narrates her experience as a singer without legs, navigating the world of show business, societal expectations, and perseverance to keep fueling her ambitions to perform. Available to watch in person and online as part of the Documentary Short Film Program.
FEATURES
Deaf President Now! (Premieres) — Deaf U producer and fourth-generation Deaf advocate Nyle DiMarco brings us this feature documentary on his alma mater, Gallaudet University (a Deaf university), where in 1988 the board of trustees appointed a hearing person to be president over the Deaf candidate who resonated with the student body. Primarily told through American Sign Language, this documentary co-directed by Davis Guggenheim dives into archival footage to tell the story of collective action on Gallaudet’s campus for Deaf recognition. Available to watch in person and online.
Life After (U.S. Documentary Competition) — Unflinching in its approach to the moral debate around assisted suicide, this documentary probes the philosophy of personal choice and autonomy by looking at the story of Elizabeth Bouvia, a disabled woman who in 1983 began a yearslong legal battle for the right to die before disappearing from the public eye. Sundance alum and disabled director Reid Davenport hunts for information on what happened to Bouvia, a search that leads him to a wider examination of disability rights in an ableist world. Winner of a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award. Available to watch in person and online.
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (U.S. Documentary Competition) — Telling her story in American Sign Language, Deaf actor Marlee Matlin recounts her tumultuous life after winning an Oscar at age 21 in 1987. Matlin was the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award, an honor that would inspire Shoshannah Stern to follow her own dreams of becoming an actor, as well. Now, in her directorial debut, Stern intimately discusses with Matlin her life in the spotlight, tabloid relationships, and coming to sobriety as a trailblazer while interviews with those close to Matlin help to color in the picture. Available to watch in person and online.
