Richard Butchins Explained

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

• The Last American Freakshow (More4, 2008) – produced and directed by Butchins^{[1] [6] [7]}
• Britain on the Sick (Channel 4, 2012) – Dispatches
• NHS Out of Hours Undercover (ITV, 2015) – Exposure
• Nursing Homes Undercover (BBC One, 2016) – Panorama
• The Great Benefits Row Dispatches (Channel 4, 2016)
• 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

• 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
• 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]

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2020-12-19. Bafta faces backlash over withdrawal of disability film. 23 October 2011. The Independent.
2. Web site: 2020-12-19. Dwarfs in Art: A New Perspective review – a compelling reappraisal of the overlooked and undervalued. 20 August 2018. The Guardian.
3. Web site: 2020-12-19. PhD candidate Richard Butchins creates film on art and impaired vision for BBC Four – School of Arts / News. University of Kent.
4. Web site: 2021-03-31. Bafta bitterness after film about disability axed. 8 February 2008. The Guardian.
5. Web site: 2021-03-31. Кинофестиваль "Кино без барьеров" - 2008. old.kinofest.org.
6. Web site: 2020-12-19. The Last American Freak Show's reception spoke volumes about our attitudes to disability. 27 March 2009. The Guardian.
7. News: Ben Hoyle, Arts. Reporter. 2020-12-19. Disability event cancelled after Bafta vetoes 'freak' film. 0140-0460. The Times.
8. Web site: 2020-12-19. Richard Butchins – The Voice of the Unicorn. weareunlimited.org.uk.
9. Web site: 2020-12-19. Sheffield Doc/Fest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival. Sheffield Doc/Fest.
10. Web site: 2020-12-19. Witness Intimidation Revealed: Channel 4 Dispatches. Radio Times.
11. News: Jasper. Rees. 2020-12-19. Dwarfs in Art: A New Perspective, review: comprehensive yet fun tour of little visited subject. The Telegraph. 20 August 2018. 0307-1235.
12. News: 2020-12-19. What's on TV: Wednesday. 0140-0460. The Sunday Times.
13. Web site: 2020-12-19. Art in focus: what and how we see. The Tablet.
14. Web site: 4 November 2020. The Disordered Eye is a vital reframing of disability in art. 2020-12-19. inews.co.uk.
15. Web site: 2020-11-04. The Disordered Eye review – do you need good eyesight to make great art?. 2021-03-19. The Guardian. en.
16. News: Carol. Midgley. 2021-08-15. The Disordered Eye review — blind artists for whom vision is a prison. 0140-0460. The Times.
17. Web site: 2020-12-19. The Million Pound Disability Payout - Panorama - S2020. Radio Times.
18. Web site: 2020-12-19. DWP employees with disabilities paid almost £1m in discrimination cases. 9 March 2020. The Independent.
19. News: Anita. Singh. 2021-08-15. Targeted: The Truth About Disability Hate Crime, review: a powerful, important film. The Telegraph. 20 January 2021. 0307-1235.
20. Web site: Kevin. Courtney. 2021-08-15. TV guide: 30 of the best shows to watch this week. The Irish Times.
21. Web site: 2023-02-28. Truth About Disability Benefits: Channel 4 Dispatches. Radio Times.
22. Web site: Past Festivals. 2020-12-19. Superfest International Disability Film Festival.
23. Web site: Sheffield Doc/Fest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival. 2020-12-19. Sheffield Doc/Fest.
24. Web site: Charlotte. Tobitt. 2023-01-07. British Journalism Awards winners 2022: Pippa Crerar is journalist of the year and Sky News bags best news provider. 15 December 2022. Press Gazette.
25. Web site: Claudia. Foxcroft. 2023-01-07. Scope Disability Awards Announced. 3 November 2022. ablemagazine.co.uk.