Via Zoom: Director & Co-Writer for ‘Code of the Freaks’ at Midwest Film Fest, June 7, 2022

Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 5, 2022 - 8:18pm

CHICAGO – An incisive look at disability perceptions at the movies is on tap at the Midwest Film Festival with “Code of the Freaks” on June 7, 2022. The film is directed by Salome Chasnoff and co-written by Aly Patsava. For ticket info, click MFF FIRST TUESDAY.

Code of the Freaks’ at the Midwest Film Festival, June 7th, 2022
Photo credit: MidwestFilm.com

“Code of the Freaks” is a social, academic and cultural look at how Hollywood has treated the subject and character of disabled people in the movies. Director Salome Chasnoff assembled a wide range of expertise from the activist and persons-with-disabilities sphere of influence, opening up discussion on the perceptions in the movies versus the realities of everyday life in the disabled world. The documentary will follow a screening of the short doc “Beyond Disability: The Fe Fe Stories,” which was produced by “Code” creators Chasnoff and Susan Nussbaum.

“Code of the Freaks” director/producer Salome Chasnoff is a Chicago-based filmmaker, installation artist and art educator (School of the Art Institute of Chicago), who is also a social and creative activist through her PO Box Collective. Co-writer/producer Alyson Patsavas is an Educator in the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois Chicago. Both will appear, along with seven other film producers and interview participants, at a post-film Q&A moderated by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com.

The Midwest Film Festival (formerly the Midwest Independent Film Festival) has been a staple in Chicago’s film community for 15 years. Through Executive Director Erica Duffy. the Festival thrives by bringing together the Chicago film community on every First Tuesdays of the month in this ongoing cinema celebration.

In PART ONE OF an interview via Zoom with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, Salome Chasnoff and Aly Patsavas offer perspectives on their contributions to “Code of the Freaks” …

In PART TWO, advocacy, monstrosities and lessons from “Code of the Freaks” …

First Tuesdays at The Midwest Film Festival Presents the “Code of the Freaks” with “Beyond Disability: The Fe Fe Stories” at the Gene Siskel Film Center – 164 North State Street in Chicago – beginning at 7pm on Tuesday, June 7th, 2022. For more information on The Midwest Film Festival, click here.