Coming to theatres today, Friday, September 25: BECOMING BULLETPROOF
Michael Barnett’s behind-the-scenes look at the making of a unique film made its debut at Vancouver last year. Its fest circuit has also included Heartland, Cleveland, Newport Beach, Martha’s Vineyard, and Vail, among others.
Once a year, the adult summer camp collective called Zeno Mountain Farm, which unites the disabled and non-disabled, creates a short film. Barnett’s inviting doc chronicles the production of their stab at a western, titled BULLETPROOF, which integrates actors with disabilities without being an explicitly cause-focused film. Similarly, while Barnett follows subjects like AJ, a man with cerebral palsy, on and off set, demonstrating at times the everyday challenges his condition presents, the film’s chief aim is to document organically Zeno’s process and its impact on its participants. Certainly the takeaway is that inclusive experiences like this are all-too-rare, and that they benefit all involved, transcending a sense of pity or awkward discomfort to open up genuine, creative, and social connections between disparate individuals.
what (not) to doc 