Crew
More than 85 percent of the crew identify as disabled, neurodivergent or live with a chronic condition. More than 70 percent also belong to several other marginalized identities including race, ethnicity, religion, sexual identity and orientation. The project therefore models disability-led and intersectional production both on screen and behind the camera.
Director, Producer (Europe), Writer: Karina Sturm
Karina Sturm is a freelance multimedia journalist working in German and English. Her work focuses on challenging stereotypical media portrayals of disabled people and people with chronic illness. Drawing on her own lived experience with chronic illness and invisible disability, she examines how narratives of disabled people as victims, heroes or sources of inspiration contribute to discrimination. Across her work, she centers disabled people’s own perspectives and follows the principle that stories about disability should involve the people directly affected.
Karina works across text, audio, video and documentary film. She is co-host of the BR2 podcast Die Neue Norm and The Global Disability News Network podcast (as well as the News Director of the online magazine), has published books on Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and ableism, and has contributed to exhibitions and multimedia projects on violence against disabled people. (Photo: Andi Weiland)
Co-Director, DP (Europe), Editor, Writer: Lucas Fuchs
Lucas Fuchs provides the know-how for all moving images and design. He is passionate about absolutely everything related to film production. Lucas plans, produces, films, and takes on numerous post-production tasks. He is enthusiastic about sound and image design, as well as 2D animation. In 2013, after finishing his degree in media design (IHK), Lucas became a freelance camera person and editor. In 2018 he received his degree in Design (B.A.) with a focus on film & animation and graphic design at the Technical University Georg Simon Ohm in Nuremberg.
Co-Writer: Beth Haller
Beth Haller (she/her) is a media and disability scholar, as well as a retired professor of Disability Studies and Media Studies. Her 2023 book with Taylor & Francis is available as a free e-book here: Disabled People Transforming Media Culture for a More Inclusive World.
Original Score: Francesco Le Metre
Producer: Suri Ellerton
Suri Ellerton (she/her) is an award-winning disabled film and television producer. She co-founded the UK-based film production company Same Name Productions alongside Sarit Ben-Yair, as well as the US-based company Glass Carousel Pictures.
Her production credits include the award-winning short films Ganef (starring Sophie McShera) and The Game (starring Rory Keenan). Ganef screened at over 30 international festivals and was longlisted for the Academy Awards. She has also produced projects for GADIM, including feature film Props No More and award winning social media docu-series In The Midst Of… . Prior to her work with Same Name Productions, her credits included production team roles on A Tale of Love and Darkness and DIG.
She is a current member of BAFTA Connect.
Executive Producer: GADIM
Intro/Outro & Stage Design: Alexander Dannhauser
DP (Europe): Dhana Sauernheimer
DP (USA): Joua Lee Grande
Joua Lee Grande (she/they) is a Minneapolis-based filmmaker whose work highlights underheard perspectives and experiences. Her documentaries have been seen on WORLD Channel, PBS, and at film festivals nationally, earning a Daytime Emmy nomination, an Upper Midwest Emmy win, and a CAAMFest Honorable Mention for the Loni Ding Award for Social Justice Documentary. Joua previously worked as a Producer-Editor at Twin Cities PBS and Editor at WCCO TV 4 News (CBS) and participated in respected documentary programs like BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship, Big Sky Pitch, PBS Accelerator Fellowship for Creative/Diverse Voices, True/False Confluence Fellowship, Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, Kartemquin Diverse Voices, and MediaJustice Network Fellowship. She is a member of film groups like Mama Papaya, In Progress, Asian American Documentary Network, Brown Girls Doc Mafia and FWD-Doc: Filmmakers with Disabilities. Joua is also an experienced family worker, community educator, organizer and Hmong culture bearer. Her initiative Azalu House bridges her commitments to storytelling, community building and social change.
2nd Unit DP (USA) West Coast: Ryan Chernin
Ryan Chernin is an NYC-based Director of Photography and musician. Ryan’s slate includes narrative and documentary films, music videos, ENG for ABC News, and a wide range of commercial work for clients such as Harley Davidson and Dove.
Camera 2, Gaffer (USA): Caitlin Callahan
Caitlin Callahan (she/her) is a filmmaker who enjoys traveling the world for her craft. She thrives on illuminating stories that connect us all. As a former Air Traffic Controller in the Marines and a Welding Instructor, her creativity is matched by her dedication, resilience, and deeply felt solidarity with those around her. A lover of building worlds, problem solving, and telling stories, Caitlin forges connections with intention and a meaningful capacity to seek and understand the unique aspects of the human experience.
Camera 2, Sound (Europe), Continuity Advisor (USA): Isabell Tröger
Sound expert with a flair for atmosphere and detail. From recording and sound design to technical implementation – Isabell makes it all happen.
Sound (USA): Kai Tillman
Kai Tillman (he/they) is a trans non-binary award-winning filmmaker whose working-class roots and years of living on the fringe have shaped their approach to grassroots storytelling.
For over 14 years, Kai has worked across documentary, commercial, and narrative projects, on subjects ranging from protests to wild horse sanctuaries, top-secret labs to homeless shelters, capturing the full range of human experience.
They were selected for two workshops in Cuba hosted by Abbas Kiarostami in 2016 and Werner Herzog in 2017. Their short films have been screened in over 30 film festivals internationally including, Locarno Film Festival, Outfest LA, Frameline, and Musée D’art Moderne de Montréal.
Most recently, Kai created and directed GADIM’s award-winning viral series, In The Midst Of…
In addition to their production work, Kai is an educator and mentor who teaches filmmaking workshops for houseless and marginalized youth.
Grip (USA): Abigael Anastacio
Abigael stepped into film by serendipitous chance, experiencing a crash course in the world of filmmaking, connection, and collective community within Portland’s indie film scene. Thinking ahead, thinking fast, and thinking of others, her work shines through in support of creating memorable productions. She takes pride in representing the intersectionalities of her identity as a queer, Filipino-American, neurodivergent creator.
Production Assistant: Austin Allstadt
Austin (they/them) served as a Production Assistant on this film. They are GADIM‘s Operations Administrator, building and maintaining the systems that keep the org running, and have since stepped into a Producer role for select GADIM productions.
They come to this work with a long history in social service, activism, and high-level government administration, always with a focus on systemically oppressed communities. They’re also a self-taught finance geek and bookkeeper on the side.
Austin is a queer, white, neurodivergent ethnic Jew who never graduated from college.