Save the Date! We’re already well into 2025, and we’re gearing up for our 22nd annual Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival. This year, the Fest will be held on Saturday, September 20th, 2025 at the Rollins Theater in the Long Center. We’re moving down to one day this year, but you can expect to see more of us in 2025 in general! We’re pursuing one-off screenings around town and potentially in other cities in Texas. Collaborative Screenings Coming up, join us for our first collaborative screening! We're partnering with our friends at ADAPT of Texas to host a community screening of the PBS documentary CHANGE, NOT CHARITY: THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the ADA, with filmmakers in attendance! When: Friday April 25. The screening is part of an ADAPT community gathering that begins at 4 pm. All are welcome to join for any part of the evening! 4 - 5:30 PM - Food, networking, meeting & greeting 5:30 - 6 PM - Filmmaker presentation (will be live-streamed) 6 - 6:45 PM - Screening of CHANGE, NOT CHARITY 6:45 - 7 PM - Audience Q&A Where: ADAPT of Texas offices and museum (1100 S I-35 Frontage Rd, Austin, TX 78704) What: PBS documentary CHANGE NOT CHARITY: THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT. Linda Litowsky, whose archival footage appears in the documentary, and Stephanie Thomas and Bob Kafka, who appear in the documentary themselves, will give a short presentation before the film. This presentation will also be streamed virtually (register here!), and the recording will be available at a later date on CTD’s YouTube channel. Want to partner up on a collaborative screening? We’re offering our 2024 line-up for special engagements at schools, businesses, and other community groups. If you’re interested in booking a screening in your community, contact us at filmfest@txdisabilities.org. In Memoriam “My purpose in life is to share the stories and art of people with autism and bring hope to parents who often feel devastated by the diagnosis of autism.” Dr. Laurence A. Becker September 23, 1936 - October 25, 2024  Dr. Laurence Becker and visiting director Cory Reeder at Cinema Touching Disability in 2023.
Photo by Mike McDiarmid. Our friend and colleague Dr. Laurence A Becker passed away peacefully on October 25th, 2024 at the age of 88. A renowned film expert and professor, Dr. Becker served as a CTDFF Short Film Competition judge since 2007 and was awarded Judge Emeritus status in 2023. He was always supportive of the Cinema Touching Disability Film Fest and was also a great supporter of film and the arts in general. He worked with and wrote about some of the world’s most prolific autistic savant artists and produced two documentaries about artists with disabilities, With Eyes Wide Open (1983) and Fierce Love and Art (2017). Dr. Becker also founded and directed his own fest, the Texas Student Film Festival. We will always be grateful for Dr. Becker's support of Cinema Touching Disability and the disability community. Our team loved working with him as a judge and seeing him year after year at the Fest. We were so delighted that, despite some mobility issues, he was able to attend in 2023. While he was moving a little slower, his warmth and enthusiasm about art by people with disabilities were as strong as ever. We'll miss him! | 
