Panel: Disability Justice in Film - 2023 19th Annual International Queer Women of Color Film Festival

Saturday, June 10, 2023
5pm

Join us for a conversation to explore the ways disability justice and accessibility transform how we make, engage with, and create change through film. The panel will follow two feature films that push the craft of filmmaking and how we understand ableism: Ginger & Honey Milk by Deaf Japanese filmmaker Mika Imai; and unseen by Set Hernandez, about an aspiring social worker who is a blind, undocumented immigrant.

Panelists

Rosemary McDonnell-Horita

An image of Rosemary McDonnell-Horita. She has a light complexion, medium length dark hair, and wears a tan dress with yellow chair earrings, and sits in a wheelchair next to her canine companion, a tan colored dog. She is smiling. In orange text on a white background reads Panelist: Rosemary McDonnell-Horita. Symbols at the bottom include QWOCMAP and Accessibility logos. Rosemary McDonnell-Horita (she/her) is a disabled, queer, Japanese-American woman living in the East Bay of California. She’s been supporting, advocating, and fiercely fighting for disability inclusion for 10+ years. In 2018 Rosemary founded Colorado’s inaugural Youth Leadership Forum for students with disabilities, in partnership with local independent living centers. With a focus in youth transition and event accessibility, Rosemary has experience working with the CA Youth Leadership Forum (YLF), the Impact Campaign for the Oscar-nominated documentary Crip Camp, Google, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and numerous others. In her most recent role as Lead Consultant of Training, Events and Strategy at LaVant Consulting, Inc, she supported a variety of brands in speaking disability with confidence. Those close to Rosemary know her as a conductor of collective access, curator of playlists and lover of justice.

Set Hernandez

An image of Set Hernandez. They have brown skin, short dark hair, wear a t-shirt that says WORTHY OFO HUMANITY with black suspenders, and black rimmed glasses. They are smiling. In orange text on a white background reads Panelist: Set Hernandez. Symbols at the bottom include QWOCMAP and Accessibility logos. Set Hernandez Rongkilyo is a filmmaker and community organizer whose roots come from Bicol, Philippines. As a queer, undocumented immigrant, they dedicate their filmmaking to expand the portrayal of their community on screen. Set directed/produced the award-winning short documentary “COVER/AGE” (2019) about healthcare expansion for undocumented adults. An alumnus of the Disruptors Fellowship, Set is also developing a TV comedy pilot and a feature-length screenplay. Set served as Impact Producer for projects such as "In Plain Sight" (2020) by Cassils and rafa esparza, and the award-winning "Call Her Ganda" (Tribeca, 2018) by PJ Raval. Their work-in-progress documentary, "unseen," has been supported by the Sundance Institute, Doc Society, Firelight Media, among others. Since 2010, Set has been organizing around migrant justice issues from education equity to deportation defense. They are a co-founder of the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective which promotes equity for undocumented immigrants in the film industry. Above all, Set is the fruit of their parents' sacrifices, their siblings' resilience, and their community's nurturing.

Shaina Ghuraya

An image of Shaina Ghuraya. She has light brown skin, dark curly hair, wears black rimmed glasses, a colorful top with dangling earrings. She is smiling while sitting in a wheelchair. In white text on an orange background reads Panelist: Shaina Ghuraya. Symbols at the bottom include QWOCMAP and Accessibility logos. Shaina Ghuraya jokes that she is a triple threat - she’s female, South Asian, and a wheelchair-user. A 2020 graduate of USC’s MFA Program in Film and TV Production, her style is bold, quirky, and unapologetic, with her films having screened at Slamdance, ReelAbilities, and Hollyshorts. It was at USC that she also made it her mission to embrace diversity and explore intersectionality within her work, putting actors with disabilities at the forefront of her pieces.
Most recently, Shaina graduated from Academy Gold, and wrote on the upcoming Netflix animated series BOONS AND CURSES. She also had the privilege of being a 2021 fellow of the Sundance Institute’s Accessible Futures Initiative for her feature film script AGG. Currently, she is an Inevitable Foundation Fellow. Originally from Elk Grove, near Sacramento in Northern California, Shaina has been featured in Forbes and KVIE Arts Showcase.

Moderator

Kebo Drew

An image of Kebo Drew, Managing Director of QWOCMAP. She has brown skin, straightened hair, wears a dark blazer and white blouse and pearl earrings. She is smiling. In orange text on a white background reads Moderator: Kebo Drew. Symbols at the bottom include QWOCMAP and Accessibility logos. Kebo Drew, CFRE directs capacity building, organizational development and strategic thinking, and is responsible for collaborations, engagement, and impact. She joined QWOCMAP as its second staff member in 2007 as a Horizons Foundation Rickey Williams Leader Fellow, when she developed and expanded the QWOCMAP Community Partner program. She also conceived QWOCMAP’s signature presentation “Reels of Resistance: Film IS Social Justice Activism.” She is responsible for building and expanding artistic collaborations and activist partnerships on local, national and international levels. She was a national 2012 Arts & Culture Fellow of the Rockwood Institute and a 2011 Next Generation Leaders of Color Fellow at CompassPoint. Drew has professionally managed development, operations and events for corporations, community, arts and nonprofit organizations for over 20 years, and is a coach for the Fundraising Brights Spots program.