An intimate film made in collaboration with the filmmaker’s family, Cabbage reframes language, illuminating relationships of care at its centre. Bureaucratic violence, which can appear as gentle and bland, is contrasted with lived experience: the film centralises her brother’s writing (who is non-verbal and non-mobile) using eye tracking technology, and her mothers reflections to explore layers of power, and how to reclaim it within an ableist paradigm.

The film takes place in the months leading up to an international move from Canada back home to Ireland – a country they had to leave a decade prior due to severe cuts in disability services. Dissecting layers of language, agency and power, the film is a subtle examination of how a human life is measured and valued.

25 minutes, Digital | Ireland, Canada, UK 2023

Supported through the FLAMIN Fellowship.

Find out more about Holly Márie Parnell