Slamdance Film Festival 2026 Review: “Brailled It”

By Morgan Roberts

Director: David Grabias
Stars: Salome Cummins, Isaiah Gauthier, Christopher Morgan
Runtime: 73 minutes
Year: 2026

Each year, the best English-speaking braille reading and writing individuals under-18 come to Los Angeles, CA compete in the Brailled Challenge. For one week, blind and low-vision kids are the majority in every room, connecting and making friends (and identifying rivals) as they compete in reading and writing challenges in distinct age groups. In the documentary film, “Brailled It” three participants put audiences in their shoes throughout the week-long competition.

It is an interesting concept to have low-vision and blind individuals are in control of the visuals for audiences. The film does open with a warning for audience members that the camera movements could be jarring or disorienting. I found the approach to be quite unique and engaging. It forces audiences without visual impairments to be mindful of their own relationship with that sense. How do I navigate spaces? What must it have been like for any of these teens to navigate these crowded spaces on their own? The film also uses auditory descriptions throughout. As the film progressed, I found myself relying more and more on the descriptions than all of the visuals themselves which I found quite striking.

While “Brailled It” as possesses these distinct points of view - and we have three of them - it also remains a coming of age film. We follow Chris, Isaiah, and Salome engaging in this completion, we also have them being kids. For instance, Salome holds herself to exceedingly high expectations. We hear her remarks after she has finished part of her competition where she expresses doubt in herself. Even at the awards ceremony, Salome is constantly preparing herself for disappointment. As someone who was a preteen/teenage girl, that self-critique was really honest and vulnerable to witness in the film. We see all of the kids struggle with their nerves, both for the competition and for their peers to like them. There is this widely universal quality to those insecurities, hopes, and fears.

Despite these perspectives, the intricacies of the competition(s) Salome, Isaiah, and Chris were competing in were a bit lost on me. In this more cinema vérité approach, this framework of the competition is not clearly defined. I found it hard to truly understand the stakes for each of these kids. How often have them come to these competitions? Do they participate in every challenge? What do these challenges look like? I was left with a lot of questions unanswered that, had we been able to fully understand this important narrative piece, I would have been able to feel more immersed in this world.

Nevertheless, “Brailled It” is a truly fascinating and thought-provoking film. It is certainly one I have been pondering since watching. As a documentary, it takes the cinema vérité to a new level in such a striking manner.

Grade: B
Pair This Film With: “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” (2020) dirs. Jim LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham; “Try Harder!” (2021) dir. Debbie Lum