Easterseals Disability Film Challenge

Wishing long time EDFC participant and supporter Anna Pakman a happy birthday! Her 2026 film BACK TO THE DARK AGES won the BEST AWARENESS award and she discusses how important it was for her to make a film addressing the issue of long-COVID and to “give light to people who feel very much left behind by the world today.” ID: @annatated sits facing the camera wearing a multicolored shirt. B-Roll images from her film and the awards show are interspersed throughout. #EDFCAwards #EDFC2026 #disabilityfilmchallenge #easterseals #awardshow

This Friday we can’t wait for the theatrical release of BEING HEUMANN! We are encouraging our disability community to show up at the theater to show support for this important film. We’ll be gathering at the Laemmle in NoHo 7 for a watch party of the 1pm show. Purchase your ticekts in advance for that show or wherever it’s showing at a theater near you. We want to make sure to support this movie as it honors Judy Heumann and the leaders of the disablity rights movement who made the right to access possible for us to be included in society. The film directed by oscar-winner @sianheder.director will also be released on @appletv beginning November 13th. Spread the word! ID: @nicnovicki a little person in a black suit speaks to camera from the red carpet of the BEING HEUMANN movie premiere. #edfc2026 #beingheumann #watchparty #laemmlenoho7

Actor Eileen Grubba and talks about the impact the film challenge has had on the industry and getting people with disabilites seen and heard. ID: @EileenGrubba stands in a purple dress while getting interviewed at the awards show. B-Roll images from the awards show are interspersed throughout. #EDFCAwards #EDFC2026 #disabilityfilmchallenge #easterseals #awardshow

AJ Murray, Co-Star and Co-Director of the film WILL YOU CARRY ME says the film challenge gives us a chance "to be in the driver's seat of telling our own stories." ID: AJ sits in his wheelchair wearing a black dress shirt as he gets interviewed at the awards show. B-Roll images from his film and the awards show are interspersed throughout. #EDFCAwards #EDFC2026 #disabilityfilmchallenge #easterseals #awardshow

Thank you to the MyAbilities Network SoCal @NBCUniversal for hosting a watch party event with our EDFC 2026 winners! We had a blast doing a Q & A with our filmmakers and executives followed by a screening of the films. ID: gallery of screens with people smiling within Microsoft Teams platform. #edfc2026 #easterseals #disabilityfilmchallenge #disabilityinfilm

Actor Sharilyn Vera talks about her expeirnce participating in the film VIVIAN PROBZ and being amongst friends and filmmakers ID: @sharilyn_vera stands in a black dress while getting interviewed at the awards show. B-Roll images from her film and the awards show are interspersed throughout. #EDFCAwards #EDFC2026 #disabilityfilmchallenge #easterseals #awardshow

We had a great time at the 2026 EDFC Winner and Finalists screening at the amazing Newport Beach Film Festival. We got to hear from the festival’s co-founder and CEO Gregg Schwenk about film distribution, had a Q&A with EDFC filmmakers, and watched the films. Congrats to the filmmakers and thanks to NBFF for hosting us! ID: people with and without disabilities pose for a group photo at the theater and @nicnovicki holds up a certificate from @newportbeachfilmfest

Let’s give a huge congratulations to EDFC alumni Jennifer Msumba for winning THREE awards at the 2026 Heartland Film Festival for her film The Fish Don’t Care When It Rains. Jennifer worked hard on this incredible film that began as a short for the film challenge and turned it in to a feature during her time in our Adobe alumni grant program. She’s now the recipient of Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature, Documentary Audience Award and the Richard Propes Award from the Heartland Film Festival. We’re so proud of Jennifer and for the world to see this very important and powerful film. ID: Heartland Film Festival logo and THE FISH DON’T CARE WHEN IT RAINS winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature. Heartland Film Festival logo and THE FISH DON’T CARE WHEN IT RAINS winner of the Documentary Audience Award. Heartland Film Festival logo and THE FISH DON’T CARE WHEN IT RAINS winner of the Richard Propes Award. Jennifer Msumba poses on the red carpet with festival runners and filmmakers at the Heartland Film Festival. @jennifermsumba @fishdontcarefilm @heartlandfilm #EDFCalumni #successstories

Filmmaker Stephanie Castelete-Tyrrell talks about her participation working on the Best Awareness nominated film INTERUPPTIONS and that the EDFC is accessible to disabled filmmakers around the world. ID: Stephanie sits in her wheelchair in a pink sweater facing the camera as B-Roll images from her film and the awards show are interspersed throughout. #EDFCAwards #EDFC2026 #disabilityfilmchallenge #easterseals #awardshow

Founder and Director of the EDFC Nic Novicki shares his excitement for a record-breaking year of 144 film submissions and the anticipation of announcing the winners at the 13th annual awards ceremony from @sonypictures . ID: @nicnovicki a little person in a black suit, gets interviewed at the awards show. B-Roll images from the awards show are interspersed throughout. #EDFCAwards #EDFC2026 #disabilityfilmchallenge #easterseals #awardshow