NEW YORK, NY (April 10, 2025) — The 17th Annual ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York, the premier festival promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of disability communities, concluded its weeklong celebration on a high note, drawing record audiences and star power, while spotlighting groundbreaking films, accessible artistry, and authentic representation.

The festival, which ran April 3–10, 2025, welcomed thousands of in-person and virtual attendees and featured over 50 events citywide. It opened with a powerful tribute to Marissa Bode, the first authentically cast disabled actor to play Nessarose in the celebrated film adaptation of Wicked. Bode received the festival’s Spotlight Award at a sold-out Opening Night event at The Shed, where her co-star Ethan Slater appeared in person to introduce her. A surprise video tribute from Oscar-nominated co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo brought the crowd to its feet, hailing Bode’s history-making performance and her commitment to disability inclusion.

In a historic first facilitated by ReelAbilities, Bode met Jenna Bainbridge, the first wheelchair user to play Nessarose in Wicked on Broadway—marking a cross-generational connection between groundbreaking performers redefining the future of authentic representation in film and theatre.

The festival also marked the world premiere of Rising Phoenix: A New Revolution, followed by a dynamic post-screening conversation featuring director Sheridan O’Donnell, executive producer Lauren Ridloff, Paralympic gold medalist Anastasia Pagonis, Valuable 500 founder Caroline Casey, and MTA Chief Accessibility Officer Quemuel Arroyo.

Ridloff also served as a judge for ReelAbilities’ Crip Script Pitch Competition, which in just four years has become a leading pipeline for disabled creators providing industry mentorships and financial backing to emerging screenwriters:

• Rough-Cut Pitch – Loreen Arbus Completion Award ($10,000) + Audio Description by Woman of Her Word: Rare by Ashley Eakin

• Crip Script – Documentary Category (ITVS Mentorship): Raving for Access by Connor and Ryan Roach

• Crip Script – Fiction Category (AMC Networks Mentorship): Adaptation by D’Arcee Charington Neal and Lauren Malone

• Crip Script – TV Category (AMC Networks Mentorship): After School by Mary Theresa Archbold

• Shine Global Script Award ($2,500): Remedial by Laurie Gardiner

All winning teams also received filmmaking equipment from Blackmagic Design, ensuring their stories move from pitch to production with power and precision.

This year’s festival further cemented ReelAbilities’ role as a leader in setting the gold standard for exhibition of disability-forward programing and accessibility in film—offering open captions, audio description, ASL interpretation, accessible venues, and virtual options, making the festival inclusive by design.

ReelAbilities is proud to be supported by a diverse and generous community of partners, including Warner Brothers Discovery, Amazon MGM Studios, AMC Networks, American Masters, ITVS, the Loreen Arbus Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, NBCUniversal, Nielsen Foundation, NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, SAG-AFTRA, Vimeo, and more.

The ReelAbilities Film Festival continues to change the stories we tell, and who gets to tell them by reframing disability and reimagining what’s possible both onscreen and behind the scenes.

Deaf actor and model, Nyle DeMarco, during the Q&A following the NY premiere of his co-directing debut Deaf President Now! echoed the ethos and approach of ReelAbilities when talking about his film as a chance to “highlight homegrown talent…These are storytellers shaped by their communities, rooted in lived experience. This isn’t imported activism. This is community-driven creativity and resistance. It’s talent cultivated from within. That matters.”

“ReelAbilities brings an insider’s perspective to universal themes—highlighting the rich, lived experiences of disabled people while sparking essential conversations about imagination and opportunity,” said Isaac Zablocki, ReelAbilities Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Our films are the bedrock for all that has grown from them—a vital space to convene, collaborate, and create, fueled by a generative spirit of meaningful change, artistic innovation, and community transformation.”

Submissions for the 18th Annual ReelAbilities Film Festival are now open via Film Freeway through October 1, 2025, with next year’s dates set for April 23–30, 2026.

For more information or to watch films year-round, visit: www.reelabilities.org and www.reelabilities.org/stream