The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs in cooperation with Access Living and the Disability Resource Center at University of Illinois Chicago present a monthly film and lecture series to examine the pressing social issues facing disabled people. The next date for Screening Disability: The International Independent Film Lecture Series begins at 7 pm on Dec. 14, 2007 in the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater, 78 E. Washington Street. Admission to all screenings is free.Friday, December 14, 2007 “I’m not drowning, I’m swimming”: The Expressive Life of Disability 7:00 pm, Claudia Cassidy Theater Feature 1: How to Eat an Elephant (Rick Randall, Australia, 2006, 20 minutes) Six people living in Melbourne, Australia, speak frankly and openly of their personal experience of mental illness, of the stigma of fear that people hold regarding mental illness, of the impact on the recovery when they return to the work place, and of bringing joy back into life. Feature 2: Forbidden Acts (Todd Herman, USA, 2006, 12 minutes) Forbidden Acts is an engaging glimpse into black disabled advocate and writer Leroy Moore’s poetry. Moore explores the nature of his own sexuality and the limits that social institutions attempt to impose upon its expression. The work ultimately sees beyond the barriers between disability and sexuality and opens new doors for expression of the sexual desires and frustrations among our disabled brothers and sisters.Feature 3: Braindamadj’d . . . Take II (Paul Nadler, Canada, 2006, 50 minutes) Ten years ago, Montrealer Paul Nadler was a go-getter person. Then he was found alone on a road in Egypt, without clothes, comatose after a car accident that caused him Traumatic Brain Injury. He had been left for dead. He was only 30. “Braindamadj’d . . . Take II” documents Nadler’s qutsy, manic determination to regain control of his life. It features Nadler’s often sardonic comments on his progress, and the observations of key people involved in his recovery. An intensely personal account, the film traces the excruciating process of recovery, both physical and psychological, containing a startling surprise in the end. Lecture: Panel moderators: Sharon Snyder & David Mitchell, University of Illinois at Chicago; panel discussants: Debjani Mukherjee, Donnelly Family Disability Ethics Center, RIC; Beth Marks, Department of Disability & Human Development, UIC; Judy Panko Reis, Director, Women’s Center, RIC; Rahnee Patrick, Access Living, Chicago, IL; Lauren Bean, Access Living For more information on film programs presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs call 312-744-6630, or visit www.chicagoculturalcenter.org.