Our Inclusive Disability Festival Has No Room for YOUR Disability

KOSZALIN, Poland - March 5, 2025 - PRLog -- Our film, Unspoken Truth, focuses on severe chronic stuttering. We submitted it to several film festivals, including those dedicated to disability-focused stories. While all followed the standard selection/rejection process, one stood out. The 'European Film Festival Integration You and Me' (Europejski Festiwal Filmowy Integracja Ty i Ja) did not just reject the film, they disqualified it almost immediately. The reason? The festival stated that stuttering is not a disability.

Film festivals are often seen as platforms for diverse voices, spaces where underrepresented stories can be shared with wider audiences. For films about disability, these festivals provide an opportunity to raise awareness and foster understanding. However, our experience with the European Film Festival Integration You and Me raised an unexpected issue: What happens when a festival dedicated to disability inclusion does not recognize a globally accepted disability?

Typically, festivals take weeks or even months to evaluate submissions, with multiple judges reviewing each film before final selections are made. The speed of this disqualification stood out: several hours. It was not a matter of artistic merit or fit with the festival's programming, but first a surprising lack of awareness that stuttering is a disability, and later on, a refusal to acknowledge its classification by both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN).

We reached out to the festival for clarification, providing official documentation from these organizations. We also included a video from ABC News demonstrating the challenges faced by individuals with severe stuttering. However, we received no response. Given this, we chose to withdraw our interest in screening at the festival.

This situation reflects a broader issue. While stuttering is medically and legally recognized as a disability, public perception often differs. Many people assume it is something that can be "fixed" rather than a lifelong condition with significant challenges. This is, in fact, a central theme of Unspoken Truth: How those with severe stuttering frequently have their experiences dismissed or invalidated. Suttering isn't a sign of incompetence. It's a disability and as such it grants individuals certain rights, including acknowledgment of their challenges.

Stuttering, like many disabilities that don't fit the most visible narratives, is often misunderstood or overlooked. We produced our film so this underrepresented disability isn't just seen, but heard.

Find out more at
https://censtudios.com/f/de-waarheid-2024/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbsjDVWnR3A



Documentation:

WHO (World Health Organization):
International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (PDF)

The UN (United Nations):
ICIDH-2, International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (PDF)

Unspoken Truth (De Waarheid)
Directed by Irmo Stijnberg