Disability activist and filmmaker Jason DaSilva will premiere When We Walk the follow-up to his 2013 documentary When I Walk, at the 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York City on June 14, 2019. The second film in the ‘When They Walk’ trilogy confronts the U.S. Medicaid system and new personal challenges; Filmmaker Jason DaSilva explains the disparity between the different states and national healthcare crisis as he tries to be closer to his son who lives 2,000 miles away.
When We Walk chronicles the life of disability activist and filmmaker Jason DaSilva as he confronts the next chapter of his life. Picking up where his critically acclaimed documentary, When I Walk, left off, DaSilva finds himself faced with a multitude of challenges that will define the rest of his life. The personal struggles we witnessed in his first film are only getting more complex.
After 15 years of multiple sclerosis, the disease paralyzes him from the neck down. His 7-year-long relationship with his son Jase’s mother falls apart. Making matters worse, she packs up their SUV and moves to Texas, taking Jase with her. Instead of folding to the circumstance, Jason straps his camera bag to his wheelchair; this time setting off for Texas on a journey that leads him through the inconsistencies of America’s broken Medicaid system. When We Walk chronicles the issues of a system that is not working for DaSilva, and shows him and his audience the plight that people in his type of situation and community are facing in America.
Director Jason DaSilva has been a prolific filmmaker for the past 15 years. He has directed four short films (Olivia’s Puzzle, A Song For Daniel, Twins of Mankala, First Steps) and two feature length-documentary films (Lest We Forget and When I Walk). Olivia’s Puzzle premiered at the 2003 Sundance Festival. Three of his films have had national broadcasts on PBS, HBO, and CBC. DaSilva’s latest feature film, When I Walk, won a 2015 Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Programming, was an Official Selection of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won Best Canadian Feature at Hot Docs 2013. In 2014, Jason also won three awards: AAPD Mobility Magazine’s Person of the Year, the Paul E. Hearn Leadership Award, and the Christopher Award for Excellence in Film. Currently he is working on a new feature film When They Walk and on AXS Map, a website and accessibility database to find disability friendly places around the world. AXS Map will map New York City in all of june with the support of players like Google, NY Community Trust, and Human Rights Watch.