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Innocence is a crime drama short film, directed by Ben Reid, whose dramas, documentaries and commercials can be seen on famous channels and platforms like Sky, BBC or Netflix. His 20-minute short “Innocence” takes place at a care home, where a worker dies. His dead seems to be an accident until a detective suspects a young man with Down syndrome. The disabled person is played by Tommy Jessop, the first actor with down syndrome who has been selected for BAFTA Elevate.
The outstanding short can be seen as a dedication to Reid’s younger brother Tom, who has Down Syndrome. He was his main inspiration for this project. Both enjoy watching crime films, until Tom realized that he can’t identify with the majority of actors on screen. Therefore, Reid was driven to represent his brother as a strong and leading character with Down Syndrome.
“Director Ben Reid paves the way for people with disabilities into showbiz.”
Like director Reid, Producer Ken Ross also knows a person who has Down syndrome: his son Max. Therefore Ross works for more diversity and inclusion of disabled people in our society, for example as a Vice-Chair at Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association. The Association also supported and presented the brilliant live-action short.
“Innocence” normalizes disability on screen and gives those ones a forum who are still not fully included in our society. The short shows that the film industry urgently needs more filmmakers who normalize representing disability on screen!
Convince yourself and have a look at this masterpiece:
