Director: Jason DaSilva Producers: Jason DaSilva, Leigh DaSilva, Richard O’Connell
Description:
Filmmaker Jason DaSilva has been living with a severe form of
multiple sclerosis for over 10 years. In his wheelchair, Jason begins
to realize just how many places he is unable to experience with his
son. To solve that, he continued working on the website AXS Map to
help him determine the places he could go. When his son moves 1700
miles away to Austin, Jason attempts to relocate to Austin, which
reveals to him the extent of the broken Medicaid
system. He discovers that state-run Medicaid would require him
to live in a nursing home.
Biography:
Jason DaSilva has been a prolific filmmaker for the past 15
years. He has directed four short films (Olivia’s Puzzle, A Song
For Daniel, Twins of Mankala, First Steps) and two feature
length-documentary films (Lest We Forget and When I Walk).
DaSilva’s latest film, When I Walk, won an Emmy Award for
Outstanding Informational Programming and won Best Canadian Feature
at Hot Docs. Jason also won three awards: AAPD Mobility Magazine’s
Person of the Year, the Paul E. Hearn Leadership Award, and the
Christopher Award for Excellence in Film.
Leigh DaSilva began his independent filmmaking career
producing alongside Jason DaSilva on First Steps, which
premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival He then went on to produce the
feature-length documentary When I Walk. Leigh also produced
the mobile application AXS Map, which is a crowd-sourced platform for
mapping wheelchair accessible locations. It has received funding from
numerous donors, including Google through the Tides Foundation. He is
the President of the award-winning production company In Face Films.
Richard O’Connell is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker who
worked for 15 years at ITVS serving as Head of Production and later a
Senior Producer of National Productions. During his time at ITVS,
Richard oversaw the production, delivery and broadcast of over 500
films to PBS and all the national series including Frontline,
American Masters, POV and Independent Lens. His current film, The
Corridor looks at the first high school to be built inside an
adult jail. Richard also won a National
Emmy Award as a Producer of the film The Homestretch.
