This film is part of Rentals
Special People
Justin Edgar's pioneering feature comedy about a neurotic filmmaker enlisted to make a film with a class of wheelchair-users.
Director: Justin Edgar
Overview
Enlisted to teach a class of wheelchair-users about filmmaking, the neurotic Jasper gets a little more than he bargained for. His charges seem to know more than he does about his subject; they're not impressed by his own heartfelt social realist oeuvre; and they meet his every suggestion with the blank indifference peculiar to the streetwise adolescent. Hailed in The Guardian as a ‘milestone in mainstream cinema’, Special People is a British comedy from the pioneering production company 104 Films. It questions condescending outreach projects, self-defeating attitudes within the disabled community and the vacuity of the film business, all with a sly wink and a healthy helping of self-parody. The film received widespread press coverage upon its release in 2007 after the BBFC issued it a 12A certificate, provocatively citing "sexual references, and disability theme", infuriating Edgar, his cast and crew, and disability campaigners. The reference to disability was subsequently withdrawn.
Edgar expanded the film from his previous 2004 short, also titled Special People, which can also be found on BFI Player.
Contains moderate sex references, language and violence.
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