Andrew Smith's Edge of Independence (Australia, 2023) is a short film included in the Focus on Ability International Short Film Festival. Through quiet observation it attends to the routines and practicalities of adult life when lived with a congenital physical disability and with use of a wheelchair. The film focuses on daily tasks and small decisions that shape autonomy and self-reliance. It offers a patient, respectful portrait that highlights skill, resilience and ordinary moments often overlooked on screen. Short and assured, Edge of Independence complements the festival's celebration of work that shows the abilities, experiences and achievements of people with disability.
Getting out of bed is the first challenge of the day, because I sleep exclusively on my left side, I must flip over onto my right side to be at the edge of the bed. The silver bar is a handle made to give me something to pull on, and luckily my arm is long enough to reach, although it can be a struggle. I don't have enough strength to lift or rotate my hips, so I need to pull my left shoulder across while I try to fling my left leg over centre to be facing the right. This can take a while. With a bit of squirming, sliding, shifting and shimmying, I gradually adjust my position to be fully laying on my right side and at the edge of the bed. I swing my legs over the side, get my feet on the floor, I put my left hand and head onto the bedside table, straighten to a seated position and I'm up. Then I just need to position my wheelchair at the right height beside the bed and scooch across to it to be mobile for the day. To have a shower, I use a small bathroom not meant for wheelchairs, but I still manage. I position a commode chair over the toilet to maximise available space and to keep it from moving too much. I then spin the wheelchair around and position it as close as possible and at the same height as the commode. Rocking back and forth to shift the weight off my bum, I gradually transfer across to the commode chair. With no railings available, I just carefully use the basin and vanity to keep me from falling forward. This can become tiresome and frustrating, and since it's also dangerous, I will have to use a hoist in the near future. Once I'm off the wheelchair, it must be turned around again in the small space, by me controlling the joystick at arm's length, without hitting anything or running over my toes. It's a well-practised manoeuvre, but it takes time and when parked out of the way, it blocks the bathroom door from being opened from the outside. Removing your underwear while remaining seated is another time-consuming process that I've had plenty of practice with. It's definitely easier with at least one handrail, much harder when you're sitting on a seat with swivelling wheels. Showering is fairly straightforward, but limited movement adds a degree of difficulty. Getting shampoo onto your hair when your arms can't raise above shoulder height takes a bit of planning and a lot of effort. Drying off after a shower demonstrates how relatively simple movements require different solutions to work around physical limitations. Unable to reach my back to dry it, flicking the towel over my shoulders is somewhat effective, but really there's enough time for me to just air dry. Rolling back over to the toilet to set up for transfer back to the wheelchair, I put the bathmat where it needs to be so my feet don't slip on wet tiles. With the bathmat positioned, I reach down to lock the front caster wheels on the commode. My feet and legs have to be off to the left so the wheelchair can be guided in to where I need it, in front of the commode, holding it in position and slightly lower so I can slide down to the wheelchair. The towel gets placed on the seat of the wheelchair to help me dry and slide across. At a rail, transferring across is by many small position hops, holding on to the armrests of both the commode and the wheelchair for support and stability. I breathe a sigh of relief once I'm back in my chair. Now I'm seated lower in my chair without the feeling I'm about to fall, I need to get some of the towel I'm sitting on out from underneath me to dry my legs. I then reverse the wheelchair back so I can reach down to unlock the casters on the commode and roll it out from the toilet and back into the rear corner of the shower where it lives. I also pull the shower curtain across to spread it out and help it dry quicker. To get the rest of the towel from underneath me, I bundle up the free end and keep pulling on it as much as I can while shifting my weight, rocking forwards and backwards off to each side. It slowly slides out and I hang it on the towel rail, using another special move. To get into bed at night, I begin by obviously getting undressed. Pulling a jumper over your head is a task most people likely don't even think about, but it can be a struggle. Then I remove my shoes and tracksuit pants which have been partially lowered to my thighs so I'm not sitting on them. I stash my clothes to wear again in the morning and chuck the socks in the laundry basket. I turn down the covers and position a piece of satin material to reduce the friction of the cotton sheets. I line up the wheelchair beside the bed and transfer over onto the satin slider. The wheelchair is parked away from the bed and plugged in to charge overnight. I wiggle around and lift my leg to get my left foot up onto the bed and more towards the middle. Then in one movement, I fall backwards onto the pillow and hoik my right leg up and onto the bed too. Pull the covers over and it's goodnight from me.
Filmmaker
Andrew Smith is the filmmaker behind this entry.
Filmmaker profile pages are coming soon — in the meantime you can
browse all their films in the search.
?
0 comments
More Films Like This
Edge of Independence by Andrew Smith (2023)
Press Esc or click outside to close
Confirm Your Vote
Edge of Independence
by Andrew Smith - OPEN ENTRANT DOCUMENTARIES
