STAND UP

“In Stand Up, I reveal a world that often goes unnoticed: the lives of young people with disabilities, their challenges, their culture, and their perspectives. The film examines the difference between being born with a disability and acquiring one later, and explores how such an event reshapes a life and an identity. At the heart of the film is a question: to what extent does a disability define who you are? Is it something to downplay, as Vera’s friends do? Something that demands extra care, as her parents believe? Or something to claim boldly, as Xander and his friends do? Vera must navigate these perspectives to find her own answer. My inspiration is personal. Born with a disability and a wheelchair user, I spent my early years in special education, connecting with others navigating similar paths. At art school, I discovered that this perspective opened an artistic goldmine. Stand Up is my first fiction film on the theme, combining fiction with documentary elements to portray life with a disability precisely and poetically. Another source of inspiration is how people around a disabled person respond. Almost everyone who acquires a disability experiences friendships fading. As Vera puts it: ‘The disability is, in a way, yours too. Every actor portraying a character with a disability also has one in real life — an artistic choice essential for authenticity, and one that nurtures an overlooked pool of talent. Different characters were based on people from ‘crip communities’ in the US, UK, and the Netherlands, united by a proud embrace of disability as identity.”