“Welcome to The DocArena Podcast in association with Film Ireland. My name is Ross Whitaker and every fortnight, I want to dig deeply into the motivations of documentary filmmakers – how do they choose their subject material and what approaches and strategies do they employ to fund, craft and distribute their work…
In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to Jerry Rothwell, director of The Reason I Jump. Based on the bestselling book by Naoki Higashida, The Reason I Jump is an immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of nonspeaking autistic people from around the world. The film blends Higashida’s revelatory descriptions of his autism, written when he was just 13, with intimate portraits of five remarkable young people. It opens a window into an intense and overwhelming, but often joyful, sensory universe, a rich tapestry that leads us to Naoki’s core message: not being able to speak does not mean there is nothing to say.
The Reason I Jump is released in cinemas from 18th June 2021.
Ross Whitaker is a documentary filmmaker (Katie, The Boys in Green, Between Land and Sea) and is a former editor of Film Ireland Magazine and programmer of the IFI Dublin Documentary Film Festival @RossWhitakerTV
Podcast music composed by michaelflemingmusic.com
Film Ireland Podcasts
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