Stories of a mother-daughter shopping trip, inconvenient storm, and one man’s visionary attempt to trademark his likeness were among the films in New Filmmakers Los Angeles’ festival focused on stories of disabilities.
The annual InFocus: Disabilities program, held in May, opened with the MiFilm x NFMLA’s Seen in Full: Disabilities in Focus, a collection of films that highlighted and celebrated the work of emerging filmmakers with disabilities. MiFilm, or Minorities in Film, is an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for filmmakers from underrepresented communities to showcase their work and engage with audiences. Through curated screenings and conversations, MiFilm aims to highlight diverse perspectives in filmmaking while fostering dialogue around identity, culture, and storytelling.
The line-up also included InFocus: Disabilities, a program that spotlighted disability both in front of and behind the camera. It featured a blend of storytelling through the lens of visible and invisible disability, centering work made by disabled filmmakers and stories of disability told in close collaboration with their subjects or protagonists. From vampire stories to dreamy experimental landscapes to documentary storytelling to heartfelt dramas and comedies, the program showcased an impressive range of work from emerging talent.
The night concluded with May Shorts, a collection of dark comedy, drama and absurdism that gives way to unflinching explorations of important issues. The block of films was an introspective, deeply thoughtful and delves into complicated dynamics, survival and fierce protective instincts.
NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year, across both our general and InFocus programming. All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects for consideration for upcoming NFMLA Festivals, regardless of the schedule for InFocus programming, which celebrates representation by spotlighting various communities of filmmakers as part of the NFMLA Monthly Film Festival. This project is made possible in part by grant support from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Here are interviews with the filmmakers and more information about them, courtesy of our friends at NFMLA.
“Day 21,” directed by Dashiell Meier
About Dashiell: Dashiell Meier is a storyteller, disability advocate, filmmaker, actor and college student. He directed, co-wrote and acted in “Day 21,” a short thriller for the 2025 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, and won the Best Actor Award. His award-winning documentary short, “This Is Me,” a solo project, is currently appearing in film festivals. Besides making his own live-action and animated shorts, Dashiell collaborates on projects to ensure accurate representation of people with Trisomy 21/Down syndrome and intellectual disabilities. Dashiell will appear as the lead in upcoming feature 21 Down with Ashley Judd and Dylan Walsh. A recent Docs in Progress (FWD/Doc) fellow, Dashiell is directing a documentary about the history of Down syndrome.
About “Day 21”: People with Trisomy 21Down syndrome find themselves alone in the world until a menacing threat appears.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Dashiell Meier the Director of “Day 21”:
“Little Fin,” directed by Chrissy Marshall
About Chrissy: Chrissy Marshall is a Los Angeles–based writer and director, originally from Maryland. A graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, her work centers on vulnerable human experiences, existential humor, and untold stories. Also she happens to be deaf.
About “Little Fin”: A young girl with a disability goes grocery shopping with her mom.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Chrissy Marshall, the director of “Little Fin”:
“Klaus Muller” directed by Zach Tolchinsky
About Zach: Zach Tolchinsky is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and model maker celebrated for his bold storytelling and masterful craftsmanship. With a Master of Fine Arts in Animation from CalArts and a rich background in puppetry, playwriting, and acting from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Zach has earned top honors in animation, including the prestigious My Rode Reel competition and the Paris Animation Awards. As the founder of Wood Goblin Studios, Zach has collaborated with industry giants like Disney, Nintendo, and Vans, bringing imaginative worlds to life. With over a decade of experience on acclaimed projects such as the Oscar-nominated Anomalisa, Emmy-winning Robot Chicken, and Katy Perry’s “Cozy Little Christmas,” Zach’s studio has produced five award-winning shorts, including the international sensation “The Forbidden Zone.”
About “Klaus Muller”: In the Arizona wilderness, park ranger Tommy Dolan discovers a long-lost nuclear bomb and calls in federal expert Klaus Muller to defuse it, only to realize as tensions rise that one of them may not be who he claims to be.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Zach Tolchinsky, the director of “Klaus Muller”:
“Born Secret,” directed by Riley Fitchpatrick
About Riley: Riley Fitchpatrick is a filmmaker and writer from Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After growing up surrounded by film and theater courtesy of his actor father, he attended film school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He has apprenticed under acclaimed directors such as Derek Cianfrance, Dave Meyers, and Joe Talbot in the commercial space.
About “Born Secret”: Having grown up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a filmmaker digs into the legacy of a town founded on the prospect of nuclear war.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Riley Fitchpatrick the director of “Born Secret”:
“All Beauty Queens Have Broken Bones,” directed by Max Tullio
About Max: Max received his BA from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA at Columbia University, where he was awarded the Faculty Selects prize for writing and nominated for a BAFTA Student Award. His films have screened at festivals including SXSW Sydney, Palm Springs ShortFest, Nashville, Frameline, Atlanta, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, IFF Boston, and on NoBudge and PBS. He is a Reykjavík Talent Lab alum and BendFilm: Basecamp fellow.
About “All Beauty Queens Have Broken Bones”: Marlo believes God has told her to win the Miss Teen Indiana Pageant — but to do so, needs to break her legs to get the pity vote.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Max Trullio, the director of “All Beauty Queens Have Broken Bones”:
“Leo Lets It Rain,” directed by Jasmine Prophete
About Jasmine: Jasmin Prophete (they/them) is a Caribbean-American screenwriter and filmmaker based between New York and Los Angeles. Jasmin is an alumni of the 2024 Scope of Work Fellowship. Their upcoming proof-of-concept short “Zonbi” placed as a finalist for the 2025 Tribeca and Chanel Through Her Lens Women’s Filmmaker Program. Their previous short, “Leo Lets It Rain,” premiered at NFMLA. They hold a BFA from NYU Tisch in Dramatic Writing and Social & Cultural Analysis. Entering the entertainment industry with a background in social justice work, Jasmin is instinctively drawn to challenging and surprising stories about marginalized communities and liberation.
About “Leo Lets It Rain”: Leo, a trans man with undiagnosed ADHD, is on his way to win back his ex-girlfriend when his plans are thwarted by a storm.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Jasmine Prophete the director of “Leo Lets It Rain”:
“Talk” Directed by Jessica L Perlman
About Jessica: Jessica Perlman is a director and editor from Los Angeles who works in film, television and commercials. Her credits include I Think You Should Leave, Bojack Horseman, Undone, and Hulu’s horror film Clock. She has worked with brands such as BMW, DirecTV, Zeiss, and Panavision, and she cut the Millennium DXL camera reel, which showcased at Cinegear in 2016 and 2017. Additionally, she had the great pleasure of working for Shane Hurlbut, ASC, establishing her expertise in camera, lenses, lighting and framing. More importantly, she refined her visual language.
About “Talk”: A Deaf home-owner enlists the help of a translator to repair his air broken conditioner, but when negotiations falter and tensions rise, the real breakdown isn’t in the appliance– it’s in the translation.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Jessica L. Perlman, the director of “Talk”:
“Blood Sugar,” directed by Marissa Díaz
About Marissa: Marissa Díaz is a Tejana filmmaker who wrote on NBC comedies Stumble and Lopez vs. Lopez. Before that, Marissa worked on Girls, produced Generation, and wrote/produced Orgasm Inc.: The Story of OneTaste. Her work has been supported by a number of industry initiatives including the Sundance Episodic Lab, the NBC TV Writers Program, the FX TV Incubator, Shondaland Women Directing Mentorship, Rideback Rise, and the Warner Bros OneFifty Directing Fellowship. She studied Film/TV Production at New York University and has an MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California.
About “Blood Sugar”: When an HMO-insured, Gen Z vampire is suddenly diagnosed with diabetes, she has to make lifestyle changes — beginning with breaking into a weight loss clinic, and bleeding them of their stash of “O.”
Watch the NFMLA interview with Marissa Díaz, the director of “Blood Sugar”:
“Disabled AF,” directed by Cashmere Jasmine and RJ Dawson
About Cashmere: Cashmere Jasmine is a first-generation Afro-Caribbean filmmaker and Wellesley-educated political theorist-turned-director. Her work blends absurdism and social critique through tales from her unconventional journey. A late-diagnosed autistic creative, she directs with the precision of a former finance analyst and the dark comedy of someone who’s survived both kidney failure and Hollywood. Her work spans TV, music videos, indie films, and includes projects supported by Sundance, Disney+ (’23), and PBS (American Masters ’24, American Experience ’25). Her work has earned NAACP nominations, Anthem Awards, Webbys, and Tellys along the way — all while maintaining her signature blend of intellectualism and irreverence.
About RJ: RJ Dawson is an award-winning director whose work blends emotional intimacy with precise, cinematic craft. An AFI Conservatory graduate, he received the Richard P. Rogers Spirit of Excellence Award for his thesis film “Gummi Bear,” with additional recognition from the Stanley Kamen Endowed Scholarship, the Campus Movie Fest, the Chicago Horror Film Festival, and the BlueCat Screenplay Competition as a finalist. RJ’s work has been supported by AMC’s Black Production Fund, PBS, and the LEF Foundation. His directing style is patient and performance-driven, prioritizing authenticity, tone, and emotional clarity. He crafts rhythmic, structured, character-driven stories exploring love, identity, and transformation.
About “Disabled AF”: A close knit friend group fights to stay together when their differing ideas about their disabilities begin to tear the group apart.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Cashmere Jasmine and RJ Dawson the directors of “Disabled AF”:
“Koko Suzanne” Directed by Zach Bandler
About Zach: Zach Bandler is a director and screenwriter whose work explores global stories at the intersection of health, ethics, and compelling narrative. He is an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health whose films often engage with neurological and psychological themes. His short film “Koko Suzanne,” made in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was acquired by Canal+ for international distribution. His feature screenplay Land of the Young won the 2023 American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition and was a 2024 Academy Nicholl Semifinalist. He is currently the Artist in Residence at UC San Francisco’s Memory and Aging Center, researching cinematic empathy.
About “Koko Suzanne”: Based on true events, a young girl’s life is turned upside down when her grandmother’s strange behavior sparks fears of witchcraft.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Zach Bandler the director of “Koko Suzanne”:
“Forward Thinking” Directed by Antonio Harper & Abby Burton
About Antonio: Antonio Harper is a seasoned writer and director who desires to tell stories as unique as his own. As a young Black and Greek man, he has a lens on the world that provides a distinctive voice to his films, which usually have tones of comedy and social justice.
About Abby: Abby Burton is a bisexual, disabled writer and director who craves a world where disabled people are authentically represented in front of and behind the camera. She strives to make films that can make an audience laugh as much as they can make them think.
About “Forward Thinking”: A Black man seeks trademark assistance from the Triple K Law Office to prepare for his inevitable encounter with the police.
Watch the NFMLA interview with “Forward Thinking” with Antonio Harper and Abby Burton:
Main image: “Leo Lets It Rain,” courtesy of NFMLA.
