The 18th annual ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York returns April 23 to 30, 2026, presenting more than 30 films that the festival describes as titles that “speak to the urgency of this moment.”
The 2026 festival opens with the East Coast Premiere of Ryan Cunningham’s Lone Wolves, a sharp romantic dramedy at the epicenter of two national conversations: neurodiversity and reproductive autonomy. Fran, a pragmatic forty-something, recruits Ben — an old classmate she once skipped prom with — for a planned DIY insemination weekend. When she discovers Ben is autistic and navigating his own mental health challenges, her carefully engineered weekend goes from adventure to unknown.
Cameron S. Mitchell’s Disposable Humanity will make its NY Premiere as the Centerpiece Presentation. Disposable Humanity investigates the Nazi Aktion T4 program — a state-sponsored campaign that killed an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 disabled people before the Holocaust’s wider machinery was in place. The film goes on to illustrate how this dark chapter of history has been systematically erased from public memory.
The festival closes with the Panamanian road trip, Espina, directed by Daniel Poler. Inspired by the director’s own experiences, Venezuelan expatriate Jonathan, facing spinal surgery, recruits two unlikely companions — a between-gigs actor and a jaded playboy — to finance the journey through public donations. He finds himself plunged into Panama’s wild side before going under the knife.
This year’s lineup includes Gail Freedman’s documentary No One Cares About Crazy People, narrated by Bob Odenkirk, dissecting America’s collapsing mental health system; and VIKTOR — A Deaf Man in a War He Cannot Hear, directed by Olivier Sarbila, a portrait of a Deaf Ukrainian man navigating the Russian invasion.
“We program films that make the invisible visible — and in 2026, that work has never felt more necessary. Every film in this lineup insists that disabled lives are complex, normal, and worth the world’s attention,” said Isaac Zablocki, Co-Founder and Director, ReelAbilities Film Festival.
Full Feature Film Lineup
96 Lbs of Dynamite (NY Premiere) — Chad McDaniel, a witty pool player born with brittle bone disease, refuses low expectations on his way from rural Mississippi to high-stakes amateur tournaments.
Concerto for Other Hands (NY Premiere) — A father composes a piano concerto specifically for his son with Miller syndrome, turning music into a shared language of adaptation and trust.
Dream Touch Believe (NY Premiere) — Indigenous sculptor Michael Naranjo — blinded and losing a hand in Vietnam — rebuilds his creative life through adaptive technique and refusal to quit.
Heavy Healing (NY Premiere) — Metal, hardcore punk, and underground hip-hop as mental health lifelines: community care inside the loud music scenes that mainstream culture wrote off as aggressive.
Horsegirls — Autistic 22-year-old Margarita finds confidence, autonomy, and community through the unlikely world of competitive hobby horse dancing.
My Everything (U.S. Premiere) — Mona has arranged her entire existence around her adult son Joël, who has an intellectual disability. When his partner becomes pregnant, the film asks what devotion, control, and letting go actually mean.
My Brain: After the Rupture (North American Premiere) — After a catastrophic brain hemorrhage, broadcaster and musician Clemency Burton-Hill fights to reclaim her voice, her music, and her life.
We Might Regret This (U.S. Premiere. BBC2 Series (3 x 30 min)) — Wheelchair user Freya hires her impulsive best friend to be her personal assistant after moving to London for love — exploring what happens when caregiving, friendship, and romance combust into hilarious chaos.
Westhampton — A filmmaker returns home a decade after causing a fatal accident, confronting the revised version of events he adopted to survive. Co-starring Breaking Bad’s RJ Mitte, who has cerebral palsy.
Short Film Programs
Close & Personal (Stories forging personal paths with honesty and humor)
Bad Survivor
Don’t Take This the Wrong Way
Misfit
Rearranged (World Premiere)
Talk (NY Premiere)
Them That’s Not
Expressions (Artists redefining identity on their own terms)
Beyond Each Frame (U.S. Premiere)
The Blind Reggaetonera
Once More, Like Rain Man
The How We Look Project (World Premiere)
Growing Pains (Youth navigating identity and talent in unexpected ways)
Boys (International Premiere)
Gum
Key of Genius (NY Premiere)
Late-Diagnosed
Little Monsters
Sūnnā (North American Premiere)
Against the Current (Lives shaped by adversity and circumstance)
Circle Hook (International Premiere)
Rag Dolls (East Coast Premiere)
White Nine (East Coast Premiere)
Creating The Space To Succeed (World Premiere)
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