OUR ATTITUDE
At Normal Festival, we present the stories of people for whom some things are more difficult and take more time, who have a hard time finding their bearings in the world around them and who were probably not the best in their class. Their life stories are entertaining, thrilling, funny, moving, but most of all, inspiring. The festival brings together feature films, animated films and documentaries about and by people with learning disabilities. We believe that the films we will be screening have both informational and artistic value. Art should never make us feel pity for an author who seems disadvantaged to us. However original, experimental and groundbreaking it is, it should let us respect the artist's personality, no matter if we praise or criticise her work.Normal festival shows professional films about lives of people with learning disabilities, as well as short films made by them. Those films were brought to life by dedicated work
of individuals or small groups who showcased their talents in one of the filmmaking skills (original story, screenwriting, art, cinematography, sound and music design) and worked on their projects for a considerable amount of time (some of them took more that a year). They were supported in their efforts by a tutoring team of film professionals and the resulting shorts convey the authors' personal artistic expression.
In addition to that, we are delighted to present the Divadlo z Pasáže Theatre from Slovakia – an ensemble of professional actors and actresses with learning disabilities – and their play Diagnóza: Túžba (Diagnosis: Desire). The event will be rounded up by a number of interesting workshops and two exhibitions.
This year's theme is the relationships and sexuality of the people with learning disabilities. Inventura has been investigating this topic for a long time and has always tried to break some of the taboos that surround it. We will premiere a short documentary called Relationships, a very honest and humorous take on the topic by a group of people who are more than involved.
Inventura will be happy to meet you between November 12th and 16th at our festival – and you will be likely to revise the inventory of skills you might have attributed to people with learning disabilities. The second annual Normal Festival has financial support from International Visegrad Fund, Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Prague 3 City District, Prague City Hall and the Life Of An Artist Foundation. The festival partners are Experimental Space Roxy/NoD, Aero Cinema, Na Prádle Theatre, The Club at Jelení, Fléda Cinema in Brno, Theatre From The Pasage, Canadian Embassy in Prague, FAMU, Panalux.
We look forward to seeing you at the festival!
Inventura