Director Kia Simon and writer/actor Steven Anacker were already looking for a short film project to collaborate on when a mutual friend told them about a Scottish doctor who had performed amputations on two patients with perfectly healthy limbs — at the patients’ requests. The doctor was banned from performing any more surgeries because, not surprisingly, the Hippocratic Oath frowns on performing surgery on physically healthy patients. Steven and Kia immediately looked at each other, "there's a great film in that."

These two patients suffered from a psychological condition known as Body Integrity Identity Disorder, or BIID. People with BIID have gone to great lengths to remove their unwanted limbs, using shotguns, chainsaws, wood chippers, and even homemade guillotines. Many more “wannabes” desperately search online for any doctor willing to perform the operation, occasionally with tragic results. In 1998, a seventy-nine year old man died of gangrene in a Mexican hotel after paying $10,000 for a black-market amputation. As a temporary fix, many wanna-bes also pretend to be amputees by binding up and hiding their unwanted limbs.

What was most intriguing to Kia and Steven was that these people are otherwise very normal people. They are not psychotic. Though they often feel shame, they don’t hate themselves; they simply don’t feel as though the limb belongs on their body. In fact, people who have successfully removed their limbs are generally happy and don’t regret the amputation. Neither do they feel the need to mutilate themselves further.

Could such a person find love?

After sketching out the basic plot of “Disarmed,” Steven and Kia turned to improv to flesh out the script and to give the dialog added realism. Robin Honan, who often performs on stage with Steven, joined them to improvise scenes for the script. Robin played the BIID sufferer and Steven her love interest. Kia then videotaped the two as they acted out a perfect first date.

Along the way, Kia became convinced that Steven and Robin should play the parts in the film. Neither had done film work before, but in rehearsals, Kia saw that they were able to maintain the spontaneity and truthfulness of their performances even when working from the script. Their on-screen chemistry was great, and their performances wonderful and nuanced.

Joined by talented collaborators, such as producer Dane Allan Smith and Director of Photography Kev Robertson, “Disarmed” took on steam. A successful fundraising party raised $4,500, and many, many donations of goods and services made up the rest of the budget.

”Disarmed” was shot primarily in Jack London Square in Oakland. While it’s a perfect place for a date, it can get a little wild on weekend nights, with revving motorcycles and racing cars often disrupting sound recording. The location was chosen both for its charm and for its unusually close proximity to a busy train track. Unfortunately, the trains rarely run on time. “Hold for train” was often called when one wasn’t expected, yet with a restaurant full of extras and the principals in place, an hour passed with no train in sight. Finally the scene was shot without one and the problem solved in post.

“Disarmed” covers a dark subject, but it’s really meant to be a sweet love story. After all, no person is one-dimensional. Just because a person’s life is weighed down by a serious condition like BIID, the person is much more than that. There are trips to the grocery store, there are hopes and dreams, there is love. “Disarmed” is the result of a lot of dedicated people who understood this.