DISABLETRON
HALF MAN · HALF MACHINE
A world built for one kind of body discards the talent that does not fit. One of those lives — a musician in a wheelchair — rebuilds himself as half man, half machine and outlives the society that threw him away.
75 min · 4K · 5.1/7.1 · DCP · 2026
A film by Jonathan O. Willingham · Music by DISABLETRON
The story
Told in fifteen chapters of image, music and sparse captions — from first heartbeat to last light — DISABLETRON follows an artist through a world without ramps, the prejudice that hides him from view, the economy that only pays for the bodies it can use, and the rebuilding that fuses flesh and circuit. As a civilisation that measured worth by legs collapses under its own stairs, the people it discarded build what comes next. In the future, technology is your only friend.
- disability and the wheelchair
- talent
- discrimination
- class and exploitation
- time
- the lifecycle
- half man, half machine
Music first
The music came first: the 77-track album HALF MAN HALF MACHINE, and then a picture built to answer it. One filmmaker — writer, director, composer, editor, VFX — working from a wheelchair. “Half man, half machine” is the biography.
Trailer
The trailer, stills, synopsis and credits are public. The full film is not posted online — it is reserved for the festival run.
DISABLETRON is a 75-minute feature told in fifteen chapters of image and music, with a 77-track score that came first and a handful of words on screen. It follows one life from first heartbeat to last light, through a world built for one kind of body, and asks what becomes of the talent that world leaves behind. Written, directed and scored by Ohio filmmaker Jonathan O. Willingham, recording as DISABLETRON.
Official trailer · 2:31 · 2026 · English captions (CC) · Now on the 2026–27 festival circuit · Decisions Feb–Mar 2027
Fifteen chapters
From first heartbeat to last light. Each chapter is one track of the score.
- IThe Eye Opensa witness
- IIBefore Lightnature asks nothing
- IIIThe Old Waysthe studio does not ask
- IVThe Networkconnected, not included
- VThe Unravelingthe stare
- VIThe Suppressedhidden from view
- VIIThe Fallthe night everything stopped
- VIIIThe Machine Wakesrebuild
- IXHalf Man, Half Machinepower, not limitation
- XThe Tripnormal is a hallucination
- XILife Beyond Humansthe universe is accessible
- XIIThe Dimensionsno stairs in twelve dimensions
- XIIIThe Demisewhat prejudice cost
- XIVAfter The Stormcare
- XVTechnology Is Your Only Friendthe creed
Press stills
Twelve frames from the film. Tap to enlarge.
HALF MAN HALF MACHINE
DISABLETRON · Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
77 tracks · the complete score of the film · hi-res 24/96 edition · Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (16 film edits + the continuous 75-minute mix).
STATUS: COMING — pre-save / pre-order links will appear here.
HEAR IT FIRST · 30-SECOND PREVIEWS
The complete score
THE FILM · CHAPTERS I–XV
- 01I · The Eye Opens ♪ preview
- 02II · Before Light
- 03III · The Old Ways
- 04IV · The Network
- 05V · The Unraveling
- 06VI · The Suppressed ♪ preview
- 07VII · The Fall
- 08VIII · The Machine Wakes ♪ preview
- 09IX · Half Man, Half Machine ♪ preview
- 10X · The Trip
- 11XI · Life Beyond Humans
- 12XII · The Dimensions ♪ preview
- 13XIII · The Demise
- 14XIV · After the Storm
- 15XV · Technology Is Your Only Friend
BEYOND THE FILM · 16–77
- 16Event Horizon ♪ preview
- 17Galaxy Collision
- 18Cosmic Womb
- 19Quantum Field
- 20Dyson Swarm Mind
- 21Nebula Whale
- 22Twin Sun Migration
- 23Gas Giant Leviathans
- 24Silicon Crystal Life
- 25Mycelial Planet Mind
- 26Wormhole Ride
- 27Europa Ice Canyons
- 28Spacetime Lens
- 29Eclipse Eye
- 30Pulsar Heart
- 31Andromeda Drift
- 32Solar Wind
- 33Dark Matter Bloom ♪ preview
- 34Orion Forge
- 35Oort Cloud Lullaby
- 36Red Giant
- 37White Dwarf
- 38Neutron Star Waltz
- 39Magnetar
- 40Quasar Choir
- 41Cosmic Web
- 42Star Nursery
- 43Supernova Remnant
- 44Gamma Ray Burst
- 45Exoplanet Dawn
- 46Titan Rain
- 47Callisto Silence
- 48Proxima Signal
- 49Trappist Seven
- 50Voyager's Echo
- 51Golden Record
- 52Heliopause
- 53Lagrange Point
- 54Zero Gravity Silk
- 55Antimatter
- 56Hawking Radiation
- 57Gravitational Waves
- 58Planck Length
- 59Big Bang Afterglow
- 60Cosmic Microwave Hum
- 61Hubble Deep Field
- 62Celestial Mechanics
- 63Escape Velocity
- 64Apogee
- 65Perigee
- 66Starfield
- 67Plasma Genesis
- 68Corona Beings
- 69Higher Dimension Beam
- 70Tesseract Eye
- 71Angelic Hyperbeing
- 72Mirror Dimension
- 73Light Body
- 74Astral Plane
- 75Stargate Corridor
- 76Akashic Library
- 77Singularity ♪ preview
Credits
JOWCO presents · a film by Jonathan O. Willingham · music by DISABLETRON
- Written, produced & directed by
- Jonathan O. Willingham
- Executive producer
- Jonathan O. Willingham
- Director of photography
- Jonathan O. Willingham
- Visual effects supervisor
- Jonathan O. Willingham
- Production design · art direction
- Jonathan O. Willingham
- Editor · colorist
- Jonathan O. Willingham
- Title design · motion graphics
- Jonathan O. Willingham
- Music composed, produced & performed by
- DISABLETRON
- Score · music supervisor
- DISABLETRON
- Sound design · supervising sound editor
- DISABLETRON
- Re-recording mixer · mixed by · mastered by
- DISABLETRON
- Narration · dialogue & narration recording
- DISABLETRON
- Foley & effects
- DISABLETRON
SOUNDTRACK · “I · The Eye Opens” · “II · Before Light” · “III · The Old Ways” · “IV · The Network” · “V · The Unraveling” · “VI · The Suppressed” · “VII · The Fall” · “VIII · The Machine Wakes” · “IX · Half Man, Half Machine” · “X · The Trip” · “XI · Life Beyond Humans” · “XII · The Dimensions” · “XIII · The Demise” · “XIV · After the Storm” · “XV · Technology Is Your Only Friend” · “Event Horizon” — written, produced & performed by DISABLETRON, courtesy of JOWCO.
The look and the format
- Film stocks
- IMAX · Neon Noir · Teal-Orange · Dune · Matrix · Kodachrome · Bleach Bypass · Colour Isolation · Monochrome Noir
- Camera
- handheld · dolly zoom · symmetry · tilt-shift · dutch angle · 16mm · whip-pans · focus pulls
- Glitch
- datamosh · slit-scan · pixel-sort · databend · frame stutter
- Rendered in
- 3840 × 2160 · Apple M5 Max · Apple M2 Ultra
- Mastering
- MLX + DuckDB calibration · SSL · Ozone 11
75 min · 4K · 5.1/7.1 · DCP · 2026 · English captions
dedicated to everyone the world was not built for
in the future, technology is your only friend.
© 2026 Jonathan O. Willingham · music © 2026 DISABLETRON · all rights reserved · JOWCO
Jonathan O. Willingham
writer · director · composer (as DISABLETRON)
Jonathan O. Willingham is an Ohio composer, producer and filmmaker who records as DISABLETRON. Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at four, he builds his own tools. DISABLETRON (2026, 75 min) is his first feature.
Decision dates
- Capital City Film Festival · Lansing MI
- Feature · short · music video — decisions Feb 7, 2027 · festival Apr 7–17, 2027
- Athens Int’l Film + Video Festival · Athens OH
- Feature — decisions on or around Mar 5, 2027 · festival spring 2027
- Columbus Int’l Film & Animation Festival · Columbus OH
- Feature · short · music video — decisions Mar 12, 2027 · festival Apr 24, 2027
Submitted October 2026 · official selections will be posted here first
Entering next
REGIONAL · OHIO · INDIANA · CINCINNATI · CHICAGO
- Chicago Underground Film Festival · Chicago IL
- Feature · short · music video — enter from Oct 19, 2026 · decisions Apr 21, 2027 · festival Jun 9–13, 2027
- Dayton Independent Film Festival · Dayton OH
- Ohio Feature Films — enter by Oct 23, 2026 · decisions Jan 8, 2027 · festival Feb 28, 2027
- Indy Film Fest · Indianapolis IN
- Feature — enter by Oct 24, 2026 · decisions Mar 24, 2027 · festival Apr 14–18, 2027
- Cleveland International Film Festival · Cleveland OH
- Feature · music video — enter by Nov 15, 2026 · decisions Mar 1, 2027 · festival Apr 1–30, 2027
- Cindependent Film Festival · Cincinnati OH
- Feature · short — enter by Jan 31, 2027 · decisions Aug 1, 2027 · festival Sep 15–19, 2027
NATIONAL + INTERNATIONAL · DISABILITY FESTIVALS
- Together! Disability Film Festival · online
- Short — enter by Oct 13, 2026 · festival Dec 5–6, 2026
- Lived Perspectives · Winchester UK
- Short — enter by Jan 7, 2027 · festival Feb 21, 2027
- Superfest Disability Film Festival · San Francisco CA
- Feature · short — 2027 call opens this winter
- ReelAbilities Film Festival · New York NY
- Feature · short — festival Apr 8–14, 2027 (2027 call closed; next cycle)
Dates from each festival’s official listing · subject to change
Get the premiere date first
Festival run 2026–27 · decisions Feb–Mar 2027. Join the list and you'll hear the dates before anyone else.
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