Local Team Behind Disability Justice Documentary Wins Award at DC Shorts Film Festival (Press Release)

Sept. 22, 2022–The team behind “Dani’s Twins,” a documentary capturing the rare, perspective-changing journey of a quadriplegic woman, announced today its acceptance of the coveted Audience Award at the recent DC Shorts Film Festival. “Dani’s Twins” was named the audience favorite among the 77 films comprising the festival lineup.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled about this outcome,” says star and producer, Dani Izzie. “The audience was super engaged during the Q&A following our opening night screening. I hope they take with them the film’s themes of respect and inclusion for parents with disabilities.”

Set in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, “Dani’s Twins” follows Izzie’s pregnancy and early parenting journey as one of the few quadriplegics ever to give birth to twins.

“Dani’s story is one of incredible love, beauty and high-stakes drama,” says Arlington, VA-based producer Angie Gentile. “It’s not only an entertaining story-there’s also a layer of disability justice that sheds light on the discrimination people and parents with disabilities face.”

The film is set to make its LA premiere on Sept. 23 with a one-week Oscar-qualifying run at the Lumiere Cinema in Beverly Hills, CA (https://bit.ly/3BYGVY5). The team then joins renowned disability advocates and influencers for a screening and disability roundtable discussion at the historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco on Sept. 29 (https://www.ticketweb.com/event/danis-twins-with-filmmaker-post-the-castro-theatre-tickets/12481885). The film returns to the DC area for the Washington West Film Festival (greater DC area) on Oct. 15 (https://washwest2022.eventive.org/schedule/6316737c351f91003e042e70), before returning to CA for the Ojai Film Festival (CA) on Nov. 6 (https://ojaifilmfestival.com/danis-twins/).

Since its world premiere in May at Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, CO, Dani’s Twins has screened at Atlanta DocuFest, Venice Shorts, San Francisco Documentary Film Festival, Toronto International Women Film Festival (where it won “Best Film About Women”), Iowa Independent Film Festival, and Reel Abilities Pittsburgh. The film was also an official selection and semi-finalist at Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, Montreal Independent Film Festival, Rotterdam Independent Film Festival, and New York International Women Festival.

Dani’s Twins was directed by Brad Allgood, known for his feature documentary “Landfill Harmonic,” which garnered over 40 festival wins in 250+ festivals and was acquired by HBO, and Steve Dorst, whose film “Shattered Sky” told the story of how America led the world to solve the biggest environmental crisis ever seen (the ozone crisis) and played on PBS.

The film was made possible in part through generous contributions from Magnetic Me, a clothing line for babies and moms, and Friendsheep, a fair trade producer of eco-friendly wool dryer balls.

DANI’S TWINS is the premiere release of PERPETUO FILMS, a studio that produces entertaining content for people who give a damn. Our active slate of programming includes DANI’S TWINS; PATROL, the battle to preserve Nicaragua’s rainforest from illegal cattle ranching; and EAT BITTER, the first English-language documentary out of the Central African Republic, capturing the tensions between Chinese migrants and local workers during a civil war. In 2021, our films secured grants and partnered with the biggest global names in nonfiction storytelling: Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Ford Foundation, the Sundance Institute, Mountainfilm, the European Union, Re:wild, Netflix Ambulante, DOC DEVELOPMENT AFRICA, Durban FilmMart, and others. Perpetuo Films aims to accelerate the web3 creator economy to amplify filmmaker autonomy, control, and ownership. PERPETUO FILMS: Story | Impact | #Film3.

CONTACT

Angie Gentile, VP, Impact and Engagement, Perpetuo Films, [email protected], +1-571-243-0972