I've long wanted to see a film like Cameron S. Mitchell's Disposable Humanity.
I don't say this lightly. Disposable Humanity is a hard film, a dark film in many ways. For some, it will be revelatory. For others, myself included, Disposable Humanity reveals truths long known but seldom if ever discussed.
Disposable Humanity is the result of a 22-year-long film effort spanning multiple generations. It began back in the 90s when the filmmakers first traveled to Germany to present on American Eugenics. During the trip, they were told about a program ordered on Hitler's private stationary that resulted in the deaths of over 300,000 disabled people. Deemed "mercy killings," this program resulted from a network of complicity including German physicians and representations from the German state. In short, The Nazi Aktion T4 program targeted those whose lives were deemed "unworthy of living." Once nearly completely annihilated, this program served as the catalyst for the development of gas chamber technology.
The Holocaust was born.
Cameron S. Mitchell and his family, a family of Disabilities Studies scholars and filmmakers, have painstakingly researched the Nazi Aktion T4 program including personal visits and conversations with memorial directors, disabled people, and relatives of T4 victims. The truth is simple. Disabled people were the first victims to be killed under the Third Reich in a program that would allow the Nazis to perfect the technology that led to the Holocaust. The Mitchells explore how this history has been largely covered over - unknown even by many disability scholars and activists.
Disposable Humanity shows us how even for those convicted during post-World War II trials, including the Nuremberg Trials, punishment was light and many would return within months or years to work in the exact same field practically unpunished. Nuremberg prosecutors were known to search for cases involving those who were ill but not truly disabled because their prosecutions would likely be more effective. Yes, even for those who prosecuted these crimes the disabled were, essentially, disposable.
The T4 memorial in Berlin was built in 2011.
2011.
This makes the disabled the last victim group to be recognized in the city centre.
Disposable Humanity tackles a difficult subject intelligently and humanely. The film seeks not to just encourage the memorialization of the dead, though it certainly does that, but to also seek re-investment in the value of their lives. The Nazis sought to eliminate any sign of disability from their population. This is is not a rare action, lest you think this was an exception. Eugenics lived alive and well in America and was legal in many states including my home state of Indiana. It is undeniable that it remains woven into the tapestry of many governmental institutions, laws, statutes, and policies even if it has changed expression.
As a film journalist with multiple disabilities, I can easily confess to having a certain bias toward a film such as Disposable Humanity. I can acknowledge having lived with a certain awareness that others have viewed my own life as disposable, beginning from my birth when a Catholic priest proclaimed it to be God's will that I die - a story handed down to me by my parents. I have long been aware of T4, however, I have longed for it to be presented in a way that amplifies the facts and celebrates the lives of those lost as worthy.
This is what Mitchell has accomplished. I fell in love with Mitchell's family here, especially his father David T. Mitchell, and several of the speakers touched me deeply with their insights, revelations, knowledge, and even personal grief.
Disposable Humanity is not a film that simply ends. It's a film that lingers in your heart and mind, calling you as a human being to learn more and do better. Disposable Humanity is far more than a memorial of those lost to the Nazi Aktion T4 program. It is a universal call to proclaim that these disabled lives mattered and that every disabled life matters.
Fresh off its world premiere at the 2025 Slamdance LA film festival, Disposable Humanity is not just a film we should see. Disposable Humanity is a film we must see.
Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
