On Thursday, October 1 we hosted our first OVEE screening featuring clips and conversation from Emmy-award winning documentary When I Walk, one of the five powerful films selected for our 2015 Media Impact Festival held in June.

The festival celebrated the social impact of media, and its capacity to transform society. When I Walk was chosen for its notable impact on disability issues through powerful coverage and inspired engagement of audiences, influencers, and institutions.
Through a partnership with OVEE, an online cinematic social TV experience created by ITVS, we will host a series of online screenings and live chats documenting the impact of the films selected for our Media Impact Festival.
An emotional documentary filled with unexpected moments of humor and joy, When I Walk is a life-affirming film driven by one man’s determination to survive–and to make sense of a devastating disease through the art of cinema. We screened the trailer and watched several clips while chatting live with the filmmaker and subject of the film, Jason DaSilva, AXS Lab executive director Alice Cook, and Senior Director of Programs Emily Verellen of The Fledgling Fund. We discussed the film’s impact on raising awareness of disability issues and related accessibility challenges.
We also learned more about AXS Lab, a nonprofit created by Jason and Alice, dedicated to building tools and telling the stories of disability through new media, innovation, and documentary film. They have developed an innovative app called AXSMap: This participatory online platform allows users to find and rate the accessibility of establishments such as cafes, restaurants, spas, clubs, and more. Locally organized “mapathons” bring groups together to populate local maps–such as a recent effort in Toronto to map 1000+ locations in time for the summer 2015 Parapan American Games.
We are delighted to announce that this September, When I Walk took home the award for Outstanding Informational ProgrammingLong Form at the 36th Annual New & Documentary Emmy® Awards.
View the full recording of our OVEE screening with Jason DaSilva, Alice Cook, and Emily Verellen.

About the Author
Roshni Melia

Roshni Melia

Program Consultant

Roshni serves as Media Impact Funders’ program consultant. In that role, she works with members, partners, and the staff to develop and implement the organization’s programs and events. Roshni manages MIF’s program strategy to expand program offerings to foster meaningful collaboration and knowledge exchange between philanthropy and media makers. Prior to joining Media Impact Funders, Roshni worked at the Ford Foundation as an event producing consultant. She has worked in the philanthropic sector for most of her career in various capacities at organizations such as The Altman Foundation, North Star Fund, and Philanthropy New York. Roshni Melia holds a B.S. in Social Policy from Northwestern University and an MPA from New York University.