WatchSeeLookView At The LFF 2020 - The Reason I Jump

So Day Three got off to a disappointing start with yesterday’s entry but we’re more than back on track with today’s offering.

The Reason I Jump
Dir. Jerry Rothwell / Dur. 82 mins
Strand:- Journey

In A Nutshell:- Based on a memoir by thirteen year old Naoki Higashida, this documentary follows five teens and highlights their perspectives on being nonspeaking autistic young people.

The Good:- Using the memoir as a framing device works brilliantly as it provides the non-autisitic viewer with the perspective needed to try and understand the headspace of these young people from arounds the world (the film follows teens in the UK, US, India and Sierra Leone). Each of them has a different way of processing (or not) what is going on around them and of communicating with the outside world - whether it be through art, spelling boards or alive of green power boxes. What I thought came across really well was the attempt to highlight the minds behind the behaviour and the ways in which those minds reach out with communication methods that most of us don’t recognise, for example, Amrit using her art as a method of describing what she is experiencing. In the case of Ben, it showed the eloquence that was hidden by his inability to use speech as his primary method of communication and how, once the spelling boards were discovered, communication with non-autistic people was unlocked for him.

The Bad:- The only thing that I felt was slightly lacking in the film was more exploration of Jestina’s voice. The film, rightly, highlights the important work that her parents have done in their local community in Sierra Leone to promote a more positive view of autism amongst an area that still has strongly superstitious views about the condition but I felt like we didn't get as much insight into her as we did with the other people.

The Verdict:- It’s great - thoughtful and uplifting, compelling all the way through and, at 82 mins, gets to the heart of it without outstaying its welcome. It’s the sort of the film that gives you a greater understanding of people who see the world in a very different way and that’s exactly the sort of thing that I love to find at the festival. Having mentioned it last time, I really am beginning to think that 2020 is the year of the documentary...