Disabled Actors Are Center Stage in Indie Film ‘Daruma’
Tim Gray Senior Vice President The indie film “Daruma” — which illustrates the importance of authentic casting with disabled actors — will hold its world premiere June 28, just a few days before the start of Disability Pride Month. The film is part of the Dances With Films Festival, which runs June 22-July 2 at the TCL Chinese theaters in Hollywood. The festival, in its 26th year, also will screen three documentaries about disabilities: “Abled,” directed by Einar Thorsteinsson about Paralympian Blake Leeper; “Baldy for the Blind” (producer-director Drea Castro), centering on a group of blind hikers attempting to climb Mt. Baldy; and “You Have No Idea” (director Alexander Jeffery), concerning a woman trying to get treatment for her autistic son.