''Special People'' is a 2007 British film was directed by Justin Edgar for

104 Films 104 Films is a film production company founded by director Justin Edgar and producer Alex Usborne in 2004. They specialise in the representation of disabled and disadvantaged talent, both on screen and behind the camera. The first feature film r ...

. The film received widespread press coverage as a result of censorship of its disability themes.

Plot

Enlisted to teach a class of wheelchair-users about filmmaking, the neurotic Jasper gets a little more than he bargained for. His charges seem to know more than he does about his subject; they're not impressed by his own heartfelt social realist oeuvre; and they meet his every suggestion with the blank indifference peculiar to the streetwise adolescent. Questions condescending outreach projects, self-defeating attitudes within the disabled community, and the vacuity of the film business - all with a sly wink and a healthy helping of self-parody

Cast

Jason Maza Jason Maza (born 24 April 1986) is an English actor, producer, director and screenwriter. Career Maza was accepted to the Central School of Speech and Drama, but at that time, he was already working as an actor so decided not to attend. Althou ...

- Dave *

David Proud David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

- Scott Swadkins *

Dominic Coleman Dominic Andrew Coleman (born 29 January 1970 in Solihull, Warwickshire) is a British actor. He went to secondary school at Tudor Grange Academy Solihull which then led him to train at Leeds University's Bretton Hall where he studied a BA (hons ...

- Jasper *Sasha Hardway - Anias *Robyn Frampton - Jess * Simon Lowe - Policeman

Production

Special People, Directed by Justin Edgar for 104 Films. Filmed on location in Birmingham UK and the Malven Hills UK.

Release

Released on 21 November 2008 (UK) Special People attracted National press with the

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of fi ...

classifying the film as a 12A for "moderate sex references, language, violence and disability theme." Sparking criticism from cast and Disability groups that audiences should not have to be warned that a film has a disability theme.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of 89% based on reviews from 9 critics. The critical consensus states "Low budget British comedy which is sharply written and nicely acted whilst confounding disability misconceptions and prejudices on the way." On its release ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' hailed ''Special People'' as "A milestone in mainstream cinema" for its use of disabled cast. The '' Radio Times'' called it " A triumph of understated, heartfelt humour" and ''

the Daily Mirror ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' "A little gem".

References

* http://www.104films.com/special-people/ * http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7748854.stm * https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/directors-anger-over-comedy-films-disability-warning-1020484.html * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3526522/Anger-as-film-censors-put-12A-on-film-for-containing-disabled-themes.html

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Special People 2007 films 2000s English-language films