Richard Butchins is a British filmmaker. He has worked as presenter and director of arts and current affairs documentaries, and as an investigative filmmaker, for television programmes such as BBC One's Panorama, Channel 4's Dispatches and ITV's Exposure. Having had an arm paralysed by polio as a child,[1][2] and through also being neuro-diverse Butchins "uses his own experience as a disabled person to make work which addresses disability".[3]

His controversial and independently made, The Last American Freak Show[4] won the 2010 Merit Award at the Superfest International Disability Film Festival and the Best Director Award at the Moscow Breaking Barriers festival.[5] His collaboration with four non-verbal autistic artists in Osaka Japan, The Voice of the Unicorn won the 2018 Sheffield Doc/Fest Alternate Realities Interactive Award. In 2022 he won a British Journalism Award and SCOPE disability Journalist of the year

Filmography

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  • The Last American Freakshow (More4, 2008) – produced and directed by Butchins[1][6][7]
  • Britain on the Sick (Channel 4, 2012) – Dispatches[citation needed]
  • NHS Out of Hours Undercover (ITV, 2015) – Exposure
  • Nursing Homes Undercover (BBC One, 2016) – Panorama[citation needed]
  • The Great Benefits Row Dispatches (Channel 4, 2016)[citation needed]
  • The Voice of the Unicorn (2018) – a multi-disciplinary collaboration between Butchins, Kazuyo Morita, Yasuyuki Ueno, Mami Yoshikawa and Koji Nishioka.[8][9]
  • Witness Intimidation Revealed: Stitches for Snitches (Channel 4, 2018) – Dispatches[10]
  • Dwarfs In Art: a New Perspective (BBC Four, 2018)[2][11][12][13]
  • The Disordered Eye (BBC Four, 2020)[14][15][16]
  • The Million Pound Disability Payout (BBC One, 2020) – Panorama[17][18]
  • Targeted: The Truth About Disability Hate Crime (BBC Two, 2021)[19][20]
  • The Truth About Disability Benefits (Channel 4, 2021)[21]
  • Locked Away: Our Autism Scandal (Channel 4, 2022)

Awards

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  • 2008: Best Director, Moscow Breaking Barriers Film Festival[5]
  • 2010: Merit Award, Superfest International Disability Film Festival, for The Last American Freak Show[22]
  • 2013: Medical Journalists Association awards, Commended, for Britain on the Sick[citation needed]
  • 2018: Sheffield Doc/Fest Alternate Realities Interactive Award, for The Voice of the Unicorn[23]
  • 2022: Winner, British Journalism Awards: Personal Finance Journalism category[24]
  • 2022: Winner, Disability journalist of the year, Scope Disability Awards[25]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Bafta faces backlash over withdrawal of disability film". The Independent. 23 October 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Dwarfs in Art: A New Perspective review – a compelling reappraisal of the overlooked and undervalued". The Guardian. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  3. ^ "PhD candidate Richard Butchins creates film on art and impaired vision for BBC Four – School of Arts / News". University of Kent. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Bafta bitterness after film about disability axed". The Guardian. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Кинофестиваль "Кино без барьеров" - 2008". old.kinofest.org. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  6. ^ "The Last American Freak Show's reception spoke volumes about our attitudes to disability". The Guardian. 27 March 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  7. ^ Reporter, Ben Hoyle, Arts. "Disability event cancelled after Bafta vetoes 'freak' film". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 19 December 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Richard Butchins – The Voice of the Unicorn". weareunlimited.org.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Sheffield Doc/Fest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival". Sheffield Doc/Fest. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Witness Intimidation Revealed: Channel 4 Dispatches". Radio Times. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  11. ^ Rees, Jasper (20 August 2018). "Dwarfs in Art: A New Perspective, review: comprehensive yet fun tour of little visited subject". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  12. ^ "What's on TV: Wednesday". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Art in focus: what and how we see". The Tablet. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  14. ^ "The Disordered Eye is a vital reframing of disability in art". inews.co.uk. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  15. ^ "The Disordered Eye review – do you need good eyesight to make great art?". The Guardian. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  16. ^ Midgley, Carol. "The Disordered Eye review — blind artists for whom vision is a prison". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  17. ^ "The Million Pound Disability Payout - Panorama - S2020". Radio Times. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  18. ^ "DWP employees with disabilities paid almost £1m in discrimination cases". The Independent. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  19. ^ Singh, Anita (20 January 2021). "Targeted: The Truth About Disability Hate Crime, review: a powerful, important film". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  20. ^ Courtney, Kevin. "TV guide: 30 of the best shows to watch this week". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Truth About Disability Benefits: Channel 4 Dispatches". Radio Times. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  22. ^ "Past Festivals". Superfest International Disability Film Festival. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  23. ^ "Sheffield Doc/Fest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival". Sheffield Doc/Fest. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  24. ^ Tobitt, Charlotte (15 December 2022). "British Journalism Awards winners 2022: Pippa Crerar is journalist of the year and Sky News bags best news provider". Press Gazette. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  25. ^ Foxcroft, Claudia (3 November 2022). "Scope Disability Awards Announced". ablemagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
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