Xavier University will be one of four locations throughout Cincinnati to be the first U.S. hosts of the traveling New York City ReelAbilities Film Festival. The festival will be in Cincinnati from Sept. 10 through September 22. This festival features nine films, presentations and programs focusing on the lives, stories and art of people with disabilities. Three films will be shown at Xavier during the festival: Warrior Champions, Snow Cake and Henry O! Warrior Champions follows the stories of four veterans of the war in Iraq who lost limbs and suffered paralysis while fighting for their country and who strove to participate in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing. The film follows each soldier for a year as they compete for a spot on the Paralympics team. Each made it on the team, some in as short as a year after their injury. The viewing of this movie is paired with speaker April Kerley. Kerley is a U.S. paralympian
and teammate of the paralympians featured in Warrior Champions. The film will be shown at 9:30 a.m.
on Sept. 19 in the Cintas Banquet Center. Snow Cake tells the story of Alex, an ex-convict, who picks up
Vivienne, a hitchhiker, while on a road trip. After a car accident kills Vivienne, Alex is inspired to visit
Vivienne’s mother, a woman with high-functioning autism. The program starts at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 20 in the Conaton Learning Commons room 412 with a performance of The Rescue courtesy of Marjorie Book Continuing Education, followed by the film at 7 p.m. The Rescue is a one-act play depicting the adventures of a teddy bear as he lives with different families. Henry O! is the story of a man, Enrique (Henry) Oliu, who, despite being blind since birth, has become a color narrator for the Tampa Bay Rays. The film will be shown at 7 p.m. on Sept. 22 in the Conaton Learning Commons room 412 and is a bonus film for festival pass holders. The film festival will also be showing movies at the College of
Mount St. Joseph, the Cincinnati Art Museum and Mayerson Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati campus.
Seating is limited at the events and admission is free for Xavier students with an All Card. Tickets are first come, first serve and are available on the website, www.mayersonjcc.org and at the door.