Virginia Film Festival to Feature Award-Winning Documentary by VA Filmmakers, Quadriplegic Mom (Press Release)

Oct. 13, 2022–The team behind DANI’S TWINS, a short documentary capturing the pregnancy and early parenting journey of Dani Izzie, local filmmaker and quadriplegic mom to twins, announced today its status as an official selection of the 2022 Virginia Film Festival (https://virginiafilmfestival.org/35th-annual-vaff-program-announced/).

The award-winning film will screen on Thurs., Nov. 3 at 5 pm in Culbreth Theatre on the University of Virginia Campus. A filmmakers’ Q&A will follow.

Izzie, a Virginia native and resident of Culpeper County, joined veteran filmmaker Brad Allgood, as well as VA residents Steve Dorst (director, cinematographer) and Angie Gentile (producer) to document her one-in-a-billion journey as one of the few quadriplegic women ever to give birth to twins. The film captures the high-stakes drama of Izzie’s expected and unexpected challenges throughout pregnancy, as well as the joys and profound beauty of her experience.

“As difficult as it was to share such a private story, I was compelled to provide an authentic portrait of what pregnancy and motherhood with a disability looks like in real life,” says Izzie, star and producer of the film. “My goal is to break down barriers and help people with and without disabilities understand that disabled pregnancy and parenthood is not only possible, it’s actually quite normal.”

When the Covid pandemic nearly brought production to a standstill, the team worked with Izzie, who despite the physical limitations of her pregnancy and spinal cord injury, was able to document a critical portion of her journey-including the race to the University of Virginia (UVA) Medical Center when she went into labor.

“The birth of Dani’s twins was the culmination of months of careful prenatal care and planning,” says Dr. Robert Fuller, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at UVA Health and UVA Children’s. “We celebrate with Dani and her family as this extraordinary new chapter of her life begins.”

The Virginia Film Festival kicks off with a program of more than 100 films and events on November 2-6. Tickets go on sale at noon on Tuesday, October 18 at http://virginiafilmfestival.org.

Producer Gentile adds: “Being able to show our film in Virginia, which is near and dear to our hearts, and at UVA, where much of Dani’s story unfolds, is an incredibly gratifying experience.”

Since its world premiere at Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, CO, in May, DANI’S TWINS has won a number of awards, including the “Best Film about Women Award” from the Toronto International Women Film Festival, “Audience Award” from DC Shorts Film Festival, and the “Audience Award” for Best Short from Pittsburgh ReelAbilities/Film Pittsburgh.

DANI’S TWINS 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 is working to realize a thriving Web3 creator economy where documentary filmmakers have more autonomy and ownership.

CONTACT

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

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