Thanks to all our supporters!

In 2025 the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities put on our Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival for the 22nd year. Now that the Fest is behind us, we'd like to take a moment to thank the attendees, judges, filmmakers, and sponsors who made this year so successful. 

Cinema Touching Disability aims to change the picture of disability through film. This wouldn't be possible without the support of community members like you. We are honored to platform these incredible films year after year, and look forward to bringing more great films to Texas audiences in the years to come. 

This year, we went down to one night, but still had a program jam-packed with films, speakers, musicians, and more. You can keep reading for some highlights or access the full report as a PDF slideshow!

Fest Highlights

On September 20th, 2025, film lovers and friends of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities gathered at the Long Center in Austin, Texas for the 22nd annual Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival. Attendees enjoyed a full night of entertainment, including three blocks of short films, live music, a panel with disability advocates, and a Q&A with visiting filmmaker Spencer P Sherwin.

Gretchen McMahon (below), a local musician with a disability, joined the Fest again to provide music during pre-show and intermissions. McMahon is a multi-instrumentalist with a genre-bending style that explores five hundred years of music in five minutes, rooted in folk, world, jazz, and Celtic sounds.

People traveled from all over the state to attend the Festival this year, including two Fest guests who were featured in the program. Spencer P Sherwin (below left) is the director of IN CASE OF FIRE, which won 3rd place in the Non-Documentary Division. Maddy Ullman (below right) is one of our Fest judges, as well as a disability film consultant. In addition to introing the block of films featuring IN CASE OF FIRE, Spencer joined us during audience voting to discuss the making of his film. 

Maddy joined us onstage to announce this year’s recipient of the Gene R. Rodger Creative Advocacy Award, the Thunder and Lightning Poetry Collective. The audience voted on their favorite film of the night, which went to QUAD LIFE (3rd place winner, Documentary Division).

This year, the Festival screened 11 short films to an audience of 72 attendees. 

Anonymous feedback from attendees:

“Excellent as always. I always feel I’ve learned, am thinking differently, and am uplifted.”

“Creative, thought-provoking, fun!”

Thank you for a great fest to our sponsors, volunteers, audience, guests, and judges! See y'all in 2026.

Fall Collaborative Screenings