New TV Series Written by Disabled Filmmakers Will Challenge Disability Stereotypes
On Friday, BBC America announced it will air a series of short films to challenge disability stereotypes, tentatively titled “Disability Monologues.” Every episode is created and acted completely by people with disabilities and will premiere sometime in 2020.
BBC America tasked actor Mat Fraser, who has thalidomide-induced phocomelia, with curating a series of six 15-minute short films that aim to challenge stereotypes and negative beliefs about disability. The fictional stories, delivered as monologues, will cover the history of disability in Britain over the last 50 years, including topics like disability discrimination, incarceration and the advent of the electric wheelchair.
Each fictional story in the series will be written, directed and acted by people with disabilities, including Jackie Hagan, Ruth Madeley, Robert Softley Gale, Liz Carr, Genevieve Barr, Tom Wentworth and Matilda Ibini, among others.
Its true folks! I'm curating 6 monologues around Disability for BBC 4 & BBC America (Writing & acting in one myself too). Check it on Deadline: https://t.co/VmIViA0M9R
— Mat Fraser (@mat_fraser) January 17, 2020
“Disability is not talked about enough in the conversation of inclusion in film and television,” said Sarah Barnett, president of AMC Networks Entertainment Group & AMC Studios, in a statement. “When you have more diverse people in front pf and behind the camera, then the work is stronger and that’s exciting. We’re delighted to air ‘Disability Monologues’ (wt) on BBC America.”
“Disability Monologues” will air on BBC America in 2020, though a specific date has not been announced.
Header image via Mat Fraser’s Twitter
Renée Fabian was the features editor at The Mighty. She has also written for The Washington Post, VICE, Healthline, Talkspace, The Fix, The Establishment, The Culture Trip, and GRAMMY.com, among others. Renée was named a 2019 AHCJ Comparative Effectiveness Research fellow, a 2020 USC Center for Health Journalism California fellow, and holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @ryfabian.
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