Year: 1977
Language: English
Format: 16mm Colour
Runtime: 26 min
Director: Beverly Shaffer
Producer: Yuki Yoshida
Executive Producer: Kathleen Shannon
Cinematographer: Hideaki Kobayashi
Editor: Ginny Stikeman
Sound: Jean-Pierre Joutel, John Knight, Ingrid Cusiel
Music: Larry Crosley
Production Company: National Film Board of Canada

This deceptively simple film about a young girl facing spina bifida with inspiring courage proved another coup for the National Film Board’s now-defunct women’s Studio D. Nine-year-old Nadia DeFranco, who lives with a congenital condition that restricts sensation in her lower legs, can only walk using crutches. The film follows her during an average week as she meets with her schoolmates, interacts with her family and generally copes with her disability. In her own candid way, Nadia makes it clear that she is not looking for sympathy. The title comes from the final line of the film, when Nadia describes how she will manage in life despite pervasive negative attitudes about the disabled.

I’ll Find a Way was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Short Factual Film and won an Academy Award® for Live Action Short Film. Director Beverly Shaffer returned to Nadia’s life more than two decades later to capture her decision to marry in Just a Wedding (1999).

By: Matthew Hays