Cork film Silent Movies makes the right moves for Irish people with disabilities

Silent Movies is a film which is raising awareness around disability in Ireland, writes Colette Sheridan 

SILENT film inspired by the classic movies of the pre-talkie era will be screened at the Cork Film Festival over the weekend.

Silent Moves is a collaboration led by Cork-born artist Aideen Barry and choreographer Emma O’Kane, as well as 27 people with disabilities from the Ridgepool Training Centre and Scannán Technologies in Ballina, Co Mayo.

The film, which centres around a character ‘who falls in love with the wrong guy’ is about raising awareness around disability, says Barry, who has been diagnosed with OCD.

“Humour is the tool we use to disarm the viewer. We wanted to highlight really important infringements of human rights while making people laugh out loud. The film covers obvious everyday hindrances to mobility, such as trying to get to your speed-dating appointment when someone has parked in your wheel-chair ramp, to drawing attention to the ambiguity around the rights of people living with intellectual disabilities having sexual relationships and being able to marry.”

Barry finds the old silent movies inspiring in the way they touched on sensitive subjects and yet had no dialogue.

“The power of using humour as a plot device to ‘talk’ about something difficult, really captivated the imagination of the whole group.

“In particular, Chaplin’s The Kid really resonated with the artists. It touches on themes of abandonment, abuse, loss, heartbreak and relationships without ever a word spoken. That film is one we echoed a lot in the making of Silent Moves.”

All 27 artists involved contributed to the creation of a filmwhich was made as part of the national IGNITE Disability Arts Commissioning scheme. The film was shot in and around Ballina. While Silent Moves is influenced by the aesthetic of the old silent movies, it is shot in colour rather than black and white.

“Colour is very important to the artists. They really responded to the use of colour and felt it was important to show vibrancy. The film is a contemporary piece of art as well as a moving image work,” says Barry.

Screenings of the film, which comes to Cork as part of a short tour, are accompanied by a live ensemble of musicians performing the film’s soundtrack.

Emma O’Kane’s contribution to the film was vital, says Barry.

“The silent movies were extreme ballets of gesture. When you can’t use words, your body must be your words. It was extremely important to get the artists to use their bodies in ways they may never have done before. Emma worked one-to-one with the artists as well as with the whole group on choreographed scenes of slapstick, and sensitive gestures to communicate sadness and heart break.”

One of the challenges in making Silent Moves was just navigating the town.“We really turn a blind eye to the day-to-day infringements on people’s ability to access wheelchair ramps, parking spaces and entrances to commercial and public spaces.”

As well as being an enjoyable, it is hoped this film will encourage other people with disabilities to work together to make the changes they want to see in the world.

Silent Moves will be screened at Triskel Christchurch as part of Cork Film Festival on Saturday at 2pm and 6.30pm