HANDICAPABLE - a 5 episodes miniseries
Filmmaker Mari Sanders and coach Paul Simons conduct a “participation bootcamp” for a group of young people with physical disabilities, with the goal of helping them advance in the job market. What begins as a controversial, spartan training program ends for the participants in a hellish rat race from which they can no longer escape.
Trailer Handicapable - ENG subs
Trailer HANDICAPABLE - English SUBS
The Story Behind the Series
The story in Handicapable symbolizes the way disabilities are often dealt with in the Netherlands. Aren't we trying too hard to normalize disabilities? Do people with disabilities always have to give 120% to participate? The series aims to spark a discussion on this topic.
The series' production process is quite unique. A clear guiding principle is established, but all the actors only knew what each scene was about an hour before filming. This is how the group collectively created this dark fairytale about a "participation boot camp" that spirals completely out of control. Because they had prepared their characters for months, they knew exactly how they would react in that situation, and there was plenty of room for their own interpretation. As a result, the series balances on the fine line between documentary and fiction. The scenes and dialogues were created and improvised on the spot.
Who Are the Creatives
The driving force behind the series is Wild Lam (www.wildlam.nl), a Dutch foundation with a training program for talented actors with disabilities.
There are still far too few people with disabilities on our screens and stages in the Netherlands. Wild Lam aims to address this by preparing talented actors for professional careers in the media and on stage. The idea for Handicapable sprung from the minds of director/writer Mari Sanders (who plays a cynical and skeptical version of himself), acting coach Hidde Simons and editor/cameraman Daan Wijdeveld. In addition, all the actors in the series wrote their own character.
“As creators, we are incredibly proud of our young actors, who portrayed their roles so brilliantly that viewers sometimes lost track of whether they were watching a documentary or a fictional work. They are living proof that there's plenty of talent with disabilities ready to raid our screens and theaters!”
- Mari Sanders
The actors in Handicapable
Tara - Jol Abels | Marc - Casper de Gans | Lucy - Nikki Manuputty | Cato - Roos van Otterdijk | Louis - Feng Perrels | Laura - Nicolette van Polen | Peter - Guus van Leeuwen | Evi - Mirthe Kamstra
Also starring: Mari Sanders as Mari, Hidde Simons as Paul, Daan Wijdeveld as Dirk, Jerrold Smit as Gerard, and guest roles by Rieks Soepenberg as Rieks, Rifka Lodeizen as Rifka, and William Boeva as William.
The series is a co-production of BIND and KRO-NCRV in collaboration with Wild Lam.
HANDICAPABLE - all episodes (Dutch - no subtitles)
Episode 1
Episode 3
Episode 2
Episode 4
Episode 5