Beyond... I Wanna Go

“We are something wonderful, something you can see the future with.”

The Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California is the birthplace of the annual Beyond Trend Fashion Shows. Over their ten year history the shows have gained their own momentum, stars and following. In Beyond… I Wanna Go we meet a big cast (61 interviewed!) of Deaf and disabled fashion designers, runway strutters, divas and opinionated arts lovers who flaunt their creations with confidence for the ages.

A sensual feast. The fashions! The models! Artists have their own stories and design interests. Fashionistas show off themselves and their arts in gorgeous, colourful and bombastic styles: “Without art, you’re a bore, you’re asleep.”

Filmmaker Cheryl Dunn captures the dynamic tension of the Beyond Trend shows among the artists and unexpected wear. The artists flounce through Oakland streets, airing their views. Beyond… I Wanna Go is the Crip/Deaf response to landmark underground ball style extravaganza Paris is Burning (1990). The Art Center is pivotal to the artists’ lives and community, and you can’t help but envy them the connections they have built with each other on display. This is NOT art as therapy; this is Beauty as a Verb, this is Art as Resistance, Art as Big and Beautiful Proud and Loud Crip/Deaf Life.

We don’t often see Fashion and Disability prancing together down the runway. Shout out to Melbourne’s Carly Findlay for her inclusive fashion show for 2018’s Fashion Week and her ongoing fashion advocacy.

This documentary will move you and challenge every stereotype you’ve ever had about Deaf and disabled people, design and fashion. Come for the clothes, stay for the heart and passion.