Espocinema Catalog Available on Prime Video

As of this week, all eight of Espocinema’s feature films are now available for streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video.

Aging Trees of Knowledge II: Command of Sankofa joins the other movies, free for streaming for Prime members. The documentary looks at issues of race and poverty, with a special focus on Rochester, NY. The story is told by civil rights advocate and historian Dr. David Anderson, who was instrumental in drawing attention to the effects of lead paint on children, leading to federal legislation.

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Watch Aging Trees of Knowledge II: Command of Sankofa here.

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See other Espocinema films on Amazon Prime Video here.

Support Special Needs Revolt! on Indiegogo!

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Please help support the next Espocinema film!

Special Needs Revolt! Is an action-horror-comedy film. The film’s hero, Billy Bates, who will be played by up-and-coming actor Samuel Dyer, is a young man with Down syndrome.

Billy wakes up from a two-year coma and discovers that the United States has been turned into a brutal dictatorship thanks to President Kruger, to be played by award-winning veteran actor Bill Weeden (Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.). Kruger has put all people with disabilities into institutions. Billy becomes the leader of a diverse group of resistance fighters committed to ending Kruger’s reign of terror.

“Special Needs Revolt!” is also a satire on our current political situation, done in the style of Troma Entertainment. Lloyd Kaufman of Troma will appear in the film.

Please visit our page on Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/special-needs-revolt#/

Inner Healing makes a difference!

Here is a lovely letter that we received from a viewer of Inner Healing: Journey with Native Trees of Knowledge!

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Dear Adrian,

I just had the joy of watching your film about your journey for healing. Thank you for the excellent job you did with the film. I am an energy medicine practitioner/teacher that also had much experience with special ed and I have been in practice for ten years. I have worked with many clients that have had many different issues. The Indians are right, it is about finding balance. There are tools such as breathing, movement etc that do help with finding the balance and peace within oneself. I am currently working with a very complicated case which led me to watching your film. I feel I received validation for how I have been working with this one particular client from your film and also validation for how my client has been handling his challenge. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this film that you made and I hope you continue to do more.

-Jeanne

We are happy that this movie is making a difference!

Find out more about the movie here.

To purchase the film click here.

A Testimonial from Actor Debbie Rochon

We were honored to interview actor Debbie Rochon for Greetings from Tromaville! Here’s what she had to say about the documentary on her facebook page.

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Finally catching up on my viewing. Just watched Greetings From Tromaville a doc made by Adrian Esposito and I loved it! If you like or love Troma you need to see it. If you think you know Troma you need to see it! If you want to know about Troma and not just take what you’ve read or heard about Lloyd or the company as truth – you need to see it! Great work put into this doc! Highly recommend it!

See more about the movie here!

For purchase options click here!

Academic Journal Reviews Diffability Hollywood

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We are proud to be reviewed by the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s  Raphael Raphael, PhD in the journal Review of Disability Studies. His review will appear in the upcoming Vol. 14, Issue 1.

Here are some kind words from the review:

The film not only offers a bird’s eye view of the ways in which those with disability had been portrayed on the screen, it also offers unprecedented, intimate glimpses into the lives of contemporary actors with disabilities and their experiences in the industry. It also is enriched by insights from non-disabled actors (e.g., Johnny Knoxville) about their experiences working with actors with disabilities in film. The stories of their professional lives also benefit from the voices of the parents and mentors who have facilitated their training and careers. The film’s insights into the lives of actors with disabilities, largely in their own words, is without peer in any documentary of which this writer is aware.

Dr. Raphael, like many people who see the movie, was especially moved by the Freaks segment in the film.

The film’s unique structure, moving between historical overview and portrait of artists, allows it to offer some unusual and very compelling content. This includes an informal reception study conducted by the director. In this portion of the film, a group of people with disabilities are gathered together for a screening of Tod Browning’s 1932 film ​Freaks. Watching their real-time reactions to the film and hearing their responses offers a rare and valuable glimpse into the varied ways in which real audiences respond to film and talk back to the screen. This is particularly valuable as very little research has been done on spectators with disabilities.

We can’t think of a higher praise for the film and we hope that this encourages educators to use the documentary in classes.

The film is recommended for the casual viewer but suitable also as a supplemental text in an extended seminar on disability in film and media. Overall this unique and compelling film fills a major gap. It is essential viewing for those interested in representations of disability and helps contribute to our understanding of the contradictory and often surprising ways in which film and disability may intersect.

Diffability Hollywood is available for educational use. Contact Espocinema for licensing purposes