Autism: The Musical is an award-winning 2007 documentary by Tricia Regan that premiered at the April 2007 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. The film recounts six months in the 2005-06 lives of five autistic children in Los Angeles, California as they write and rehearse for an original stage production.
Synopsis
The film recounts six months in the 2005-06 life of five
autistic children and their parents in
Los Angeles,
California as their children write and rehearse for an original stage production. Among the children, Henry Stills is an expert on dinosaurs and a budding comedian; Adam Mandela Walden is a music savant who plays the cello and sings in the film. The other children featured in the film have one or more things they excel at doing if only given the training they need to communicate and develop those skills.
Several of the parents appearing in the film are well known in their own right. For example, Rosanne Katon-Walden was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its September 1978 issue and her husband Richard Walden is the president and chief executive officer of Operation USA, an international organization that shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for its work as part of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. American guitarist and singer/songwriter Stephen Stills is "Stills" in the renowned rock band Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young), who recognizes autistic attributes in himself through observing his son Henry. They and the other parents round out a cast of real-life parents struggling with their strained marriages while on the verge of being overwhelmed by the needs of their autistic child.
Background/Production
An idea for the film was first raised in July 2005 as a potential
48 Hour Film Project, but did not materialize. However, in that same year, noted acting coach
Elaine Hall founded
The Miracle Project, a nonprofit,
Sherman Oaks, California based theater group for children with autism and other afflictions. In late 2005, Tricia Regan began filming the six-month rehearsal process at
Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services recreation room in Los Angeles. Regan is said to have collected more than 400 hours of raw material, winnowing the documentary to five complimentary family narratives. The title of the film emerged only in the late stages of editing.
In March 2007, reality show producers Bunim/Murray Productions expanded its business into films and made "Autism: The Musical" its first acquisition. Bunim/Murray Productions came on board toward the end of shooting to join In Effect Films in producing the film.
Distribution
After its premiere on April 18, 2007 at
Robert De Niro's sixth annual
Tribeca Film Festival, the film enjoyed a limited theatrical run in several US cities in 2007. Among its many awards, the film received the best documentary award at the 10th annual Newport International Film Festival in June 2007. The film was purchased for broadcast beginning March 25, 2008 by
HBO.
Reception
On November 19, 2007, "Autism: The Musical" was named by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of 15 films on its documentary feature
Oscar short list. The film has won awards at 7 major film festivals in the U.S. Following its television broadcast on HBO, the film garnered two 2008 Emmy awards, for nonfiction film editing as well as "Outstanding Nonfiction Special".
See also
References
Further reading
External links
