Sing the body authentic Boudoir body-image doc 'I Would Like To Thank My Body' also uncovers reality of totally accessible film By: Ben Waldman Posted: 12:43 PM CDT Friday, Jul. 28, 2023

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This article was published 28/07/2023 (823 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The irony of accessible viewing options, such as closed captioning, described video and live sign language interpretation, is that finding them often requires an extensive search, a road map and a magnifying glass.

That’s not the case in I Would Like To Thank My Body, Manitoba filmmaker Catherine Dulude’s latest short documentary, screening this weekend at the Gimli International Film Festival, which runs to Sunday.

From the moment the film — which follows a woman confronting her body-image issues as she prepares for a boudoir photo shoot — begins, it has all its accessibility bases covered.

As the title rolls across the screen, Dulude’s voice reads it aloud. She then describes for viewers what’s being shown on camera: we see the white bungalow of the film’s subject, Rosalie Best.

Then a car pulls up in front. “A white woman with brown and grey hair steps out.”

When the woman, a home-care worker named Christine, says hello, an ASL interpreter named Joanna Hawkins pops up in the bottom left-hand corner to translate the dialogue. For the rest of the film’s 15 minutes, she and Dulude don’t stray, giving audiences of all abilities the chance to follow along, making accessibility the rule, not the exception.

Dulude, a former journalist, made four versions of the film: one in French, one in English and one fully accessible version in each language.

“I decided to submit the fully accessible versions (to festivals), mostly as a statement,” she says.

“If you’re not used to seeing an ASL interpreter and having video description, and you find it jarring, then maybe you don’t live in an accessible environment as much as you think. This is what accessibility looks like.”

The filmmaker’s commitment to accessibility was a major reason Rosalie Best agreed to appear in the documentary. A professional accessibility specialist, Best has muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair, while her husband is one of an estimated 1.5 million Canadians who identify as having sight loss.

Another reason Best was keen to participate was the film’s subject matter. “I grew up in the early 2000s watching Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton, seeing the size zeroes and the Special K diets,” she says. That led to a warped perspective on what beauty was, she says.

During the pandemic, Best says her self-esteem took another hit: she didn’t even want to look in the mirror.

So when Dulude, who had worked with Best on a podcast for Accessible Media Inc., approached her about potentially working on a film project about body image in 2021, Best surprised herself by saying yes.

Soon, she was in photographer Teri Hofford’s Exchange District studio, posing for one camera while being watched by another.

Hofford’s camera produced snapshots of Best feeling her best, and Dulude’s captured a woman beginning to recognize her own beauty.

“Now, I make myself look at least once a day in the mirror, to look at my body and see it for what it is: a body,” says Best. “It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s my vessel.”

“Choosing to do the shoot, as a disability advocate, I wanted to do something to show people that disabled bodies should be celebrated,” she adds.

To that end, in the film, Dulude uses human-first language, resulting in a resounding message of self-love.

Thanks to the accessibility measures implemented, it’s a message every viewer or listener can receive, loud and clear.

ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com