DOK Industry Podcast · DOK Leipzig – International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film

What’s Up with Docs feat. Ranell Shubert (Disability Media Alliance) – “Star Baby”

·1 hr 4 min·5 clips

The conversation begins with introductions and visual descriptions from both speakers. Toni welcomes Rennell to the podcast and notes the collaboration with Doc Lives, while Rennell says it is good to be in conversation rather than only listening from the other side. The exchange settles quickly into documentary practice rather than formal biography. Rennell reflects on visibility in the field by recalling the flood of online filmmaker meetings during the pandemic and the sense that disabled filmmakers had always been there, even when festivals were not built to receive them. She points out that many festivals are still inaccessible. She also notes that in-person events can be hyper-stimulating, which can make participation difficult for many people, including some who are neurodivergent. Online forums, by contrast, gave some filmmakers more control over when to join and when to step away. That shift changed the terms of participation. The discussion treats that change as structural rather than temporary. Rennell connects it to the broader reality that some films do not travel easily to festivals. Travel can be expensive, exhausting, or risky when accessibility equipment has to move with the filmmaker. Equipment can be damaged, and that practical detail lands as another reminder that access is never abstract. The conversation also returns to Crip Camp as a point of reference for visibility. From there, Rennell and Toni consider how the industry can make room for more disabled filmmakers without turning their needs into one-off exceptions. The tone stays reflective and collegial. The hosts also acknowledge the people who helped broaden participation, including David Hernandez and others connected to Indigenous filmmakers in South and Central America. Near the end, Toni brings up an upcoming panel at Saybrook University on crip time and disability in artistic space. The discussion lands on the value of continuing the conversation beyond the recording. Gratitude runs through the closing exchange, both for the podcast collaboration and for the chance to keep thinking in public about access, care, and creative work. The result is a patient industry conversation that treats disability as part of how documentary culture actually functions.

As heard by us

A practical conversation about access and visibility in documentary and festival culture.

This episode treats disability access in documentary culture and festival practice as a practical question, not a slogan. It moves from Crip Camp to the rise of online filmmaker meetings during the pandemic, then follows how accessibility shapes who can keep participating,…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play for a clear-eyed look at access, visibility, and participation inside documentary festival culture.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from DOK Industry Podcast