The Ride Ahead

Samuel Habib expands on his Emmy-nominated short My Disability Roadmap with this documentary road trip seeking guidance on how to live a “bad-ass” life.

Samuel is a typical 21-year-old: he wants to leave home, go to university, make friends and find love. But having to rely on a communication device and 160-kilogram wheelchair while living with the rare genetic condition GNAO1 Neurodevelopmental Disorder makes finding his place in the world anything but easy. So he sets out to “talk to more disabled people who have navigated this stuff, and are living bad-ass adult lives”, traversing the US to interview a range of disability pioneers, rebels, activists and artists on their stories, struggles and sexcapades.

Joined by his father Dan (who co-directs) and with support from executive producer James Lebrecht (co-director of the Oscar-nominated Crip Camp), Samuel engages in candid conversation with figures such as Judith Heumann, Lydia X. Z. Brown, Maysoon Zayid and Ali Stroker. At once humble in his pursuit of his elders’ wisdom and charmingly humorous when sharing his own experiences, Samuel is a hugely compelling central figure. Meanwhile, the immersive footage shot using GoPros mounted on his wheelchair invites viewers to not just metaphorically but literally see the issues from Samuel’s eager perspective.