Looking Forward
2024 · 9m · USA
Directed by Devon Gulati
Genres: documentary, sports
Tones: contemplative, tender
Filmed over more than a decade, this documentary short follows Owen Cravens — diagnosed with Stargardt's disease at age 11 — as he adapts to progressive vision loss and trains his way from a kid on a bike to one of the youngest paratriathletes representing Team USA at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A decade-long document of human adaptation—which sounds inspirational and boring until you realize the film's real rebellion is refusing to sentimentalize disability or sprint-to-triumph narrative; Gulati lets vision loss just *be*, unglamorous and ongoing.
The temporal architecture here situates itself deliberately within the lineage of observational documentary cinema—a patient accumulation of moments that resists the conventional sports-doc crescendo, instead honoring the texture of a life unfolding across its own archive.
The singular choice is the decision to *stay*: shooting across a decade means Gulati captures the one moment most filmmakers would miss—not triumph, but the exact morning Owen figures out how to recalibrate, and that specificity of presence is what transforms archival footage into something alive.
Reviews
To come out with this short documentary that has been in the works for over 10 years is unreal. Watching Owen grow over the decade and seeing his dedication to the sport has served as an inspiration for myself and those around him.
Owen set his own limitations, and that alone was inspiring. He showed what it means to keep competing when so much is pushing back on you.
Festivals
- Key West Film Festival 2024