First World War Shorts launched on Channel 4’s 4OD

A new series of short films by five contemporary disabled artists, including a Teesside University academic, has been launched on Channel 4’s 4OD.

Nearly two million British men returned from the First World War with a permanent disability.

Disabled veterans were among the most visible legacy of the war, and their unprecedented numbers changed the way that the general public, and the state, understood disabilities.

Now in a series of short films commissioned by 14-18 NOW, WW1 Centenary Art Commissions and Channel 4, and produced by Artsadmin and Xenoki, five contemporary disabled artists reflect on the legacies of war and disability in Britain today, taking inspiration from Siegfried Sassoon’s 1917 poem, Does it Matter?

From a crutch assembled and disassembled like a weapon, to a cast of animated disabled soldiers, to a reflection on the heroic figures depicted on war memorials, the films offer warm, witty and poignant perspectives on war and disability.

The films can be seen at channel4.com/ww1shorts or via 4OD.

‘Oh! What a Lovely Lovely Ward’ by Katherine Araniello turns sentimentality on its head in a playful and absurd reimagining of a wartime hospital, where the wounded and war damaged wait their turn to have their morale lifted by Matron.

In ‘Soldiering On’, Jez Colborne collaborates with Mind the Gap to explore Jez’s fascination with the pomp and ceremony surrounding war and its brutal reality. A music video set in an old cinema, it explores his desire to be part of an experience he’s locked out of because “learning-disabled people don’t go to war”.

Claire Cunningham’s ‘Resemblance’ centres around the act of assembling (and disassembling) a crutch in the manner of a soldier assembling his gun. Claire enacts a ritual that mirrors the act of creating a weapon of destruction, while actually creating an object of support.

In ‘Breathe Nothing of Slaughter’, Tony Heaton examines the potent symbol of the war memorial against the realities of those disabled by the devastating effects of war. Heroic, enduring, Adonis-like bodies waving flags or in prayerful repose are set in stark contrast to archive images of blackened faces, rotting feet, malnourished and broken bodies.

Simon Mckeown’s ‘Ghosts’ uses motion capture and animation to follow a cast of disabled veterans from across the spectrum of World War One as they prepare for the day ahead. Dressed in the uniforms of various armies, the characters talk, cook and tend to pigeons in a landscape filled with the artefacts and objects of war.

Simon is a Reader in Post Production and Animation in Teesside University’s School of Computing. As an established digital creator, Simon uses state-of-the-art technology to try and alter people’s perceptions of disability.

Does it Matter? is produced by Artsadmin and Xenoki. Co-commissioned by Channel 4 and 14-18 NOW, WWI Centenary Art Commissions, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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Watch Simon's film at channel4.com