As the BAFTA awards are quickly forgotten, BAFTA itself stays in the headlines for censoring the work of a disabled film-maker at the close of a film festival on disability. The BAFTA HQ are to be used for the closing film in the festival this week. When BAFTA heard what the closing film was going to be they intervened in the programming. So instead of a roadshow documentary on people with disabilities who perform in freak shows the audience are going to instead get a mental illness comedy including people having sex with toys.

The Last American Freak Show is probably not easy viewing for many people with disabilities – but it seems the able bodied didn’t really get it – or why the disabled viewing audience and other cinema goers might possible think that this sort of film is exactly what should be shown to challenge everyone on their views and opinions on disability as entertainment. Or you know maybe some able bodied people do not want to be reminded of their legacy of laughter and derision at those outside the norm. Life is not all Inside I’m Dancing! (Thanks be to the Goddesses)

IFI are you reading this?? Time for a film festival I think!! It’d only take seconds before the Irish disability police appeared to tell us what we could view and could not view. That would be fun!! I’m serious on having the festival though – it’s about time!

The film maker is blogging about the process of finishing and showing his work here. More on the controversy at Technoccult.