Documentary ‘Crutch’ about Pittsburgh native Bill Shannon has success in first week
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“Crutch,” the documentary about Pittsburgh’s Bill Shannon, made the Top 10 list in the Arts & Culture category at DOC NYC, a documentary film festival.
“We are so excited,” said Sachi Cunningham, the film’s co-director. “Tickets are selling fast.”
Twenty years in the making, the 98-minute film premiered Wednesday. It will available to watch virtually through Thursday.
It follows the life and work of Shannon, who was diagnosed with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, a rare, degenerative condition of the hip. It documents, over five decades, how he dealt with the rare medical condition and chronic pain — and became a multi-faceted artist, from his “crutch dancing” and skating to his growth into a performance artist.
The production was released during the year of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Shannon, 50, a self-employed artist, describes his work as conceptually driven interdisciplinary performance in media. “It’s surreal to watch a documentary about yourself,” he said in a previous Tribune-Review interview.
Cunningham, a Pittsburgh native and assistant professor of multimedia journalism at San Francisco State University, said the feedback she’s received has been positive. She does miss, however, the immediate response from people at screenings or film festivals, suspended during the pandemic.
Cunningham said she did receive a response from a mother whose 10-year-old son has Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, and who said she was “engaged the entire film.”
“What is most interesting to me is hearing peoples’ perception about disability,” said Cunningham, who watched the movie with her family via a video projector and a bucket of popcorn. “I want to hear more about what people think.”
Cunningham, a filmmaker and photographer, grew up in Highland Park and attended Peabody High School and Fulton Elementary School with Shannon.
In addition to co-directing, she co-produced the documentary, collaborating with Chandler Evans, known as Vayabobo, from Los Angeles. He wrote “Visions of Everest,” a feature-length documentary about the first blind man to summit Mount Everest.
“I hope Pittsburgh will watch,” Cunningham said. “It’s a Pittsburgh story, and I hope the city will be proud of its native son.”
Tickets are available here.