This independent micro-short documentary captures interviews with two trailblazers changing the narrative discourse in the area of disability in Australia, Tim Cahalan and Joanne Hatchard, through the sharing of their ‘proudest moment’. Tim, born with Crouzon syndrome and diagnosed with hydrocephalus at 3 years old requiring a shunt, brought about awareness in 2019 of being a victim to the Government’s robodebt scheme, putting a ‘face to the name’. Joanne, an award-winning neurodivergent therapist with lived experience, parent and founder of Better Being Me, champions the power of seeing neurodivergence as a meaningful, legitimate way of being. During sharing their ‘proudest moment’, an artist drew their portrait capturing a moment in time as their authentic selves.

Review by Parker Jesse Chase:

Pride is rarely categorized as an act of resistance, yet Mannik’s latest micro-short documentary proves it is exactly that. By profiling two Australian disability advocates, Tim Cahalan and Joanne Hatchard, the film moves beyond the familiar narratives of survival to explore a more radical possibility: that showing up as your authentic self is a defiant choice. As the subjects share their “proudest moments,” an artist sketches their portraits in real-time, capturing fleeting, vulnerable slices of time that reveal the human spirit beneath systemic friction.

The film’s most striking asset is its central purpose: a recurring extreme close-up of art supplies. As we listen to the interviewees, a piece of charcoal dynamically sketches their portraits on canvas. Charcoal is a raw, messy medium that requires friction to leave a mark. A perfect mirror for the systemic friction the subjects endure. By intercutting the interviews with the progression of the drawings, Männik treats identity as an active process of becoming. When the charcoal is finally returned to its case at the end, it underscores a profound truth: the subjects haven’t fundamentally changed, but through self-advocacy and bringing that to their community, they have forced the world to finally see them clearly.

Through this artistic framing, we meet Tim Cahalan, a man living with hydrocephalus who has endured numerous brain surgeries. Tim’s narrative rejects Western hyper-individualism in favor of collective care. His fierce advocacy culminates in a triumphant 2019 address to Parliament to defend disabled citizens from unjust government policies, driven by a desire to smooth the road
for the next generation. Tim pairs this heavy political weight with delightful, radical authenticity. Whether fighting systemic persecution or finding unapologetic comfort in a bunny onesie, he refuses to compromise his true self to make others comfortable.

Then we meet Joanne Hatchard, a neurodiverse family therapist whose late dyslexia diagnosis brought clarity to a lifetime of unexpressed thoughts. Joanne directly targets the grueling physics of “masking” and what comes with the exhausting energy required to fake normalcy in a world built for the neurotypical. Her proudest moment is pure cinematic joy: smiling and twirling on screen in a blue floral dress as years of research finally align with her self-understanding. Joanne challenges the audience with a stark ethical baseline for society: if community and accessibility structures don’t exist to support everyone, “in a sense, you are doing it wrong.”

Männik’s film is short, sweet, and remarkably precise. By chipping away at societal noise until the beautiful, authentic core of her subjects is revealed, she reminds us that the disability community is meant to be actively embraced, not merely accommodated. By capturing these peak moments of alignment and joy, this short film forces a profound connection, not just within ourselves, but with the collective world around us.