Autism Through Cinema

We have arrived at our final episode as the 'Autism Through Cinema' podcast.  This is also our 50th episode, so all six of the regular hosts have gathered to look back on the work we have done over the past few years. Each host picks a favourite episode and offers their thoughts, before we join back together to reflect on the medium of podcasting as an academic pursuit. Here are the direct links to the episodes discussed by each host: Georgia: Punch-Drunk Love Ethan: Cat People Janet: Orlando Alex: Asylum Lillian: Amelie David: Cars We are hopeful that in some regard some of us may well be able to return to podcasting about the ongoing connections between autism and film, but for now we will say goodbye and thank you so very much for listening. And huge special thank you also to all who have been involved in the making of this podcast, including our former host John-James Laidlow, all our wonderful special guests, and our editors Benjamin Leverett-Jaques and 344 Audio. And final thanks to you, our listeners, for your downloads, streams, and support over the past few years.  Here's to a bright autistic cinematic future!

A huge welcome today to our final special guest, the wonderful Alex Gregson. Alex is Head of Audio at 344 Audio, and has led on the edits of the last eight episodes of our podcast, for which we are eternal grateful. He is newly diagnosed as autistic and reflects very thoughtfully on how his autism has contributed positively to his career as a sound engineer and audio editor. For our analysis, Alex brings along Alejandro González Iñárritu's Academy Award winning 2015 revenge thriller The Revenant, and asks David and Lillian to pay particular attention to the rich soundscape of the film. We discuss the careful detailing of the sound design, as well as Iñárritu's concoction of a 'cacajanga' soundscape. We find autistic resonance in the meticulous attention paid to the layering of the natural sounds of the wild landscapes, as well as the precise choices made in the levels of balance between sound effects, score and dialogue. We move on the reflect on some of the challenges faced by neurodivergent individuals who are sensitive to sound, and consider how filmmakers might rethink their approach to final mix of a movie to better accommodate those who might struggle with such sensory input. A huge thanks again to Alex for joining us, and for doing such a brilliant job of editing our latest batch of episodes. For more on the work that 344 Audio do, you can visit their website here: https://www.344audio.com/

In this rather exclusive episode, Alex, Ethan, & David take a look at an as yet unreleased film called 'Voice', directed by Norwegian director Ana Hjort Guttu. A documentary maker from Norwegian TV meets resistance when she contacts a group of filmmaking activists to tell a story that is not her own. 'Voice' is a fascinating look at documentary ethics which gives us a springboard to talk about the issues we might need to consider when the subjects of our non-fiction films are not from our own neurotype. Here's the IMDB entry: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27035082/  We soon move to talking about some of the best and worst offerings of recent documentaries about autism, including the BBC's 'Paddy and Christine McGuinness: Our Family and Autism' and 'Christine McGuinness: Unmasking my Autism'. We also look at 'Chris Packham: Inside Our Minds', 'I Am Greta', and 'I Think We're Alone Now', as well as Alex's own work 'Drawing on Autism'. We also give a quick shout out to a wonderful radical left comedy podcast Mandatory Redistribution Party, as hosted by neurodivergent hosts Jack Evans and Sean Morley. You can find Mandos here: https://mandatoryredistributionparty.podbean.com/ Thank you for listening!

Part two of our special double episode about the wondrous Doctor Who. Harry Draper is still with us, and we spend some time talking through his brilliant contribution to the world of Who audio stories, his TARDIS-focused tale 'The Last Day at Work', which is available here: https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-short-trips-the-last-day-at-work-1917 We also engage in a fascinating discussion about the joys and perils of autistic tendencies towards extreme fandom, such as the collecting of merchandise, fan socialising, and the deep knowledge of lore. We question to what extent media corporations have a responsibility to consider how far they may be exploiting autistic fans from excessive merchandising and extended universes. We further consider how such fandoms have in turn created certain mythologies about autism itself, especially in relation to gender. Important final charitable note!: Harry has asked us to share the fundraising page for the British Heart Foundation, created in memory of Big Finish legend Paul Spragg. If you can spare any money, please donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/big-finish-paul-spragg Thank you for listening, and be safe out there in the big wide world of all of time and space!

We are officially bigger on the inside... Turns out we don't just cover 'cinema', we may occasionally warp our way onto the TV screen if we feel sufficiently compelled. And what could be more compelling than The Timelord themselves?  It's Doctor Who time (timey-wimey?). Specifically, we focus our sonic screwdrivers onto the second serial of the fourth series of classic Who: 'The Tenth Planet'. This serial is notable for two reasons: the first appearance of the now iconic Cybermen, and the first time the Doctor dies and regenerates. We are joined by extraordinary special guest, the completely excellent Harry Draper, who is a certified Big Finish Doctor Who audio story author who created the rather marvellous tale 'The Last Day at Work'. Find Harry's audio story here, downloadable for free: https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-short-trips-the-last-day-at-work-1917 There was so much to pack in that we decided to split the episode into two parts for your listening pleasure. Part two will be released tomorrow, but for now enjoy our initial discussions! We reflect on the performative values of the cybermen, the presence of female characters and female fans, and our personal histories with this most magnificent titan of British TV. Tune in again tomorrow for Part 2!  

Here at Autism Through Cinema we've always been interested in how film stretches beyond the traditional cinematic space, and how cinema appears in other contexts. With this in mind, Lillian asked Georgia and Janet to indulge in a trip to TATE Britain to take in the multi-screen spectacle of 'What Freedom is to Me', a retrospective of the work of New Queer filmmaker Isaac Julien. The trio reflect on the freedoms that are afforded to neurodivergent viewers when not confined by the temporal and spatial limits of the cinema auditorium, as well as the social conventions inscribed in those spaces. Julien's work is considered in relation to its black and queer history, and a critical eye is turned towards the use of beauty to depict difficult subject matter. The use of multiple screens and the freedom to wander in a gallery allow for further reflections on neurodivegent lives; from the 'rules' around how to look at certain things, to the sometimes strained interactions with other gallery visitors. Sadly, the exhibition has now closed, but more on Isaac Julien's work can be found via his website: https://www.isaacjulien.com/ Thanks for listening.   Episode edited by 344 Audio. 

On the 9th September 2023 the ATC podcast team will be appearing live at The Garden Cinema in Covent Garden, London. There will be a screening of Celine Song’s critically acclaimed debut film ‘Past Lives’ at 14:50 followed by a panel discussion & Q&A with Lillian, Georgia, Ethan and David. The screening will be a relaxed screening, and tickets can be purchased here: https://www.thegardencinema.co.uk/film/relaxed-screening-past-lives/ Read more about 'Past Lives' in this 5-star review: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/06/past-lives-review-a-must-see-story-of-lost-loves-childhood-crushes-and-changing-identities  

An episode which has been a long time coming, Georgia, David and Lillian finally tackle the cult classic cyberpunk sci-fi of Ridley Scott's groundbreaking Blade Runner. There is much to discuss from this 'parable of neurodiversity' (as David puts it), including how the Voight-Kampff test of the film mirrors the real-life 'empathy' tests of autism diagnoses, and how the tag-line 'more human than human' relates to language used to describe (and dehumanise) autistic people. The gang also consider the status of the cyborg 'replicants' as potential neurodivergent activists, while a special focus on the character of Rachel reveals how the film's cinematography potentially behaves in a neuroqueer manner. The episode is inspired by David's article on autism and Blade Runner which can be found here if you have the access: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/sfftv.2022.12 If not, you can find a version of the article in Chapter 4 of David's PhD thesis, which is available for free (after signing up to Academia.edu) here: https://www.academia.edu/45516790/The_Fantastic_Autistic_Divergence_Estrangement_and_The_Neuroqueer_Screen_in_Blade_Runner_The_Final_Cut_2007_and_Community_2009_2015_ And for even more on the connections between autism and Blade Runner do check out this blog series by SpeakerToAnimals: https://speakertoanimals.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/do-aspies-dream-of-electric-sheep/   Audio edits by 344 Audio.

With content warnings about discussions around cannibalism, abuse, and eating disorders, Georgia, Janet and Lillian return to tackle the meaty subject of female body horror via Julia Ducournau's grisly debut, Raw. The trio reflect on associations between autism and eating, with particular focus on the processes and difficulties around misophonia, before navigating the tricky relationship of cannibalism and sexuality. There are frank discussions about how norms are undermined in the film, and how acts of masking and gender performance can resonate with autistic female experience. Georgia offers the film as an analogy for the abjection of adolescent life when identities are being formed and rejected, associating this with the turbulence of autistic social navigation. Lillian's thoughts on Ducournau's second film Titane can be found in Plinth on the following link: https://plinth.uk.com/blogs/magazine/titane-essay-the-horror-of-the-body-in-julia-ducournau-titane We also welcome our new editors 344 Audio, who will be working hard behind-the-scenes to take us all the way up to our 50th episode. Many thanks for listening. And please don't be tempted to take a nibble out of your friends...

ATC phone home, ATC phone home...! We're back among the aliens and the spaceships today as we tackle Steven Spielberg's tear-jerking classic. We're also incredibly delighted to welcome yet another wonderful special guest, the brilliant Sam Chown-Ahern! Sam is a filmmaker, artist, collaborator, and member of the Neurocultures Collective, who are currently working with Autism Through Cinema in the creation of an experimental feature film. Sam also presented a wonderfully bizarre re-edit of a scene from ET at the Autism Through Cinema conference in January 2023, and we discuss her motivations behind these artistic choices. But mostly, we're having a good old chat about a well-beloved film. We find particular interest in the film's navigation of tropes from horror films and family dramas, and we consider Elliot as a figure of loneliness. We also pick up on ET as a film about communication, connecting this with non-normative modes of autistic communication. Huge thanks to Sam! Check out Sam's work here: https://www.samchown-ahern.com/

We've made a brief sidestep into TV for the first half of episode #41 because we are joined by the wonderful Andrew Brenner, Headwriter of the CBeebies show Pablo. For the uninitiated, Pablo is an animated show about an autistic boy and his imaginary animal friends and has been a staple of CBeebies since 2017. Andrew talks us through how the show came to be, how it developed, and the importance of working with autistic performers. Three particular episodes of the show are discussed, all of which are freely available to view on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b097bs09/pablo It's also worth mentioning that we have previously featured one of the voice actors from Pablo, the brilliant artist Sumita Majumdar who joined us for episode #23 to talk about Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story. Do scroll back through our archive to find it! Following the Pablo chat, Andrew, Janet, Alex and Georgia move on to discuss the 1971 Hal Ashby film Harold & Maude. The film's two outsider protagonists are considered in autistic terms, as is their unusual age-gap relationship. Empathy comes under examination, which is found to be lacking in the stiff typical characters that surround the central pair, before the discussion turns to how the two central characters buck the conventions of gender expectations. Towards the end, Andrew gives a shout-out to our crossover episode with Talking Images in which co-host David Hartley talks about another of Ashby's films about an outsider: Being There. Here's the link to that episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ACULrwtGxYWM867qPxpdU Huge thanks to Andrew for joining us!    

Welcome back to a fresh batch of episodes exploring autistic resonance and sensibility on film! We are delighted to welcome the wonderful Sophie Broadgate to the podcast today. Sophie is an autistic filmmaker working in Cumbria and Manchester whose recent short films 'In Motion' and 'We've created invisible systems and structures' explore autistic identity and experience. We chat to Sophie about her own diagnostic experience, her processes working with autistic subjects, and some of her artistic choices. Sophie's brilliant work can be viewed on her website: pikaiafilms.co.uk. You can also find Sophie on Instagram at @sophiebroadgate. We then move on to our discussion on Celine Sciamma's 2011 film Tomboy, which Sophie brought along for our consideration. We find much to admire in Sciamma's balanced approach to her subject matter, and uncover autistic resonance with Laure/Mickael's explorations of gender non-conformity and childhood. Questions marks hang over the final narrative decision of the film but we appreciate the gentle and careful framing of the moment as a conscious choice of the protagonist. Huge thanks to Sophie for joining us!

On the 1st December 2022, the Sight and Sound Greatest Film of All Time poll unveiled a surprising result. The poll takes place every 10 years and for fifty years the top spot was held by Citizen Kane before switching to Vertigo in 2012. This time, with a wider pool of industry voters including filmmakers, critics, academics and curators, the crown has been snatched by Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975). Lillian has been super keen to bring Akerman to the ATC podcast for a while, so we decided this was a perfect opportunity. She is joined by Janet and Georgia for a wide-ranging discussion about autism, feminism, and the nature of what to include in the 'Greatest Films of All Time' canon. Do you have thoughts on the Sight and Sound Poll? Have you identified autistic presence in Akerman's work? Do let us know! You can email us your thoughts on cinemautism [at] gmail.com

There's a Peter Greenaway season happening over at the BFI in London, and our Lillian recently conducted an interview with the man himself, which you can find here:  https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/beginning-was-image-interview-with-peter-greenaway  We thought, therefore, that it was high time we covered Greenaway, especially with Ethan boldly describing the director's work as one of the 'most autistic'... Lillian and Ethan get together with Georgia to tackle Greenaway's first feature-length film, the epic apocalyptic mockumentary The Falls. We find an autistic mode in the film's approach to categorising and cataloguing, and connect strongly with Greenaway's interest in attempting to both capture and elude a wholeness and totality. We also enjoy the film's absurdist imagery, and its complex approach to the use of language, particularly in relation to finding new words and visual imagery for what cannot be easily expressed. The mention of autism in relation to Greenaway on the documentary The Greenaway Alphabet is warmly received and enables our team to be all that more effusive about autistic presence in The Falls, and the affirmation of autistic presence in filmmaking more widely.  Catch the Greenaway season at the BFI across November and December, and also on the BFI Player. And, if you're quick, you might be able to see Ethan in the flesh when he gives his introduction to David Cronenberg's The Fly at the BFI on Monday 28th November 2022. Tickets still available here.

We take a gentle, nostalgic, and surreal turn with this episode via Apichatpong Weerasethakul's 2010 palm d'or winning fantasy film, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. We meditate on what so-called 'Slow Cinema' can offer the autistic viewer, and how this form of filmmaking cuts against the mainstream fast-paced approach. We also enjoy Weerasethakul's fantastical leanings and the methods he uses to normalise and naturalise the supernatural, while we also consider how the natural landscape of the Thai jungles evoke the connections often made between autism and the environment. Georgia manages to make an intriguing comparison to the work of David Lynch, while Lillian laments alternative methods of filming nature that Uncle Boonmee seems to want to resist. To read about the autistic 'ecological sainthoods', as explored by Dr Anna Stenning, find her article here: https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/7715/7606  What do you make of the work of Weerasethakul and other proponents of 'slow cinema'? Does it connect with an autistic sensibility? Do let us know! Email us on cinemautism[at]gmail.com or join in the conversation on twitter @AutismCinema

In a break with our normal schedule, and posted a week early, we bring you a special episode where we reflect on the nature of 'Relaxed Screenings'. You might have seen these advertised at cinemas - special events organised with autistic and neurodivergent audiences in mind. Typically the lights are dimmed but not fully turned off, the volume is lowered, there's an understanding among the audience that there may be people fidgeting or making noise, and there's often a separate room set aside as a quiet space. All these accommodations are to be welcomed, but perhaps there are also some problems that arise from trying to create a 'one size fits all' approach to autism-friendly screenings? Also, who chooses the films that are shown in these relaxed screenings? What might happen when the curators are autistic themselves? To discuss all this, Ethan and David have invited Maggi Hurt, a programmer at the British Film Institute in the Southbank, London. Maggi has been responsible for devising and programming the 'Relaxed Series' screenings where she has worked in collaboration with autistic film lovers to curate events for autistic audiences. For their upcoming 'In Dreams are Monsters' season, our very own Ethan Lyon has taken up the challenge, and has programmed two horror films for the Relaxed Series. We talk about Ethan's choices, while also reflecting on how relaxed screenings work and what their future might be. Tickets are still available for Ethan's screenings, and the man himself will be there to lead a Q&A discussion session afterwards at both events. Here are the details: Pontypool - Monday 31st October 2022, 18:10, NFT3. Tickets here: https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=pontypoolrelaxed The Fly - Monday 28th November 2022, 18:00, NFT3. Tickets here: https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=flyrelaxed  Also, David mentions a book by autistic journalist Laura Kate Dale, who writes a little about relaxed screenings. The book is called Uncomfortable Labels and you can find it here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/uncomfortable-labels/laura-kate-dale/9781785925870 

We are skipping and stimming with delight to welcome Australian filmmaker and producer Sophia Rose O'Rourke to the podcast today. Sophia talks us through her experiences as an autistic creative and how she has been using filmmaking to help discover and explore her own identity. We talk about her short film 'Danse Russe', based on William Carlos Williams' poem of the same name: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46483/danse-russe, and we spend some time dwelling on the barriers that autistic people can face when trying to make a space in the film industry. But we also celebrate the very rich strengths that the autistic way-of-thinking can bring to creative cinematic spaces. We then turn our attention the 1993 version of The Secret Garden directed by Agnieszka Holland and based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Sophia recalls her love of the film from childhood and the recognition she felt through the protagonist, Mary. We also reflect on the film's depiction of disability, and the power dynamics that can sometimes arise between carers and dependants. After the recording, Sophia sent us a timely article on The Conversation about autism and employment. Have a read of it here: https://theconversation.com/how-do-we-make-workplaces-work-for-autistic-people-189572  Enormous thanks to Sophia for taking the time to talk to us and for suggesting The Secret Garden. You can follow Sophia on Twitter at https://twitter.com/auntie_sophie  Do get in touch if you have any reactions to this episode!

Hold onto your heads, we're back at you with another horror film just in time for spooky season. Ethan takes Alex and David into the splattery world of David Cronenberg via his 1981 brain-exploding psychological thriller Scanners. We ponder whether the eponymous telepaths might stand in for an oppressed neurodivergent group, while reflecting on Cronenberg's apparent anti-psychiatry stance. There's a power-play in the film from authority figures seeking to control the scanners, set against a slightly more fascistic ideology of scanner revolution, and we wonder where to place heroism and villainy in this headache of a story. The discussion winds its way to a reflection on the extensive problems around the anti-vaxx movement and we find many parallels with this film and the story of a certain Dr Wakefield. David even starts to ask if science-fiction horror has helped to fuel an anti-science rhetoric? Nevertheless, there is much to enjoy in the gurning faces of the characters, and the gutsy bodyhorror that Cronenberg specialises in.  We would therefore send a little content warning to those of you interested in watching this film - at times it is pretty horrible, and deals with a lot of dark and disturbing themes. Join in the conversation at @autismcinema on Twitter and via email at cinemautism[at]gmail.com.

"Life may be sad, but it's always beautiful" Today we pay tribute to one of the greats of modern cinema, the late Jean-Luc Godard. We recorded this conversation before the recent announcement of his passing, so we've brought our discussion of Pierrot le Fou forward on our release schedule. Godard is a filmmaker who means a lot to us all at Autism Through Cinema. His unfailingly maverick approach to the cinematic art form serves as a profound expression of what can be possible in this medium with an outlook alternative to the mainstream. Lillian, David and Ethan fall in love again with Godard's technicolour masterpiece. Pierrot le Fou is a meandering road movie about love, freedom, and disconnection, based on Lionel White's 1962 novel Obsession. We reflect on the neurodivergent sensibilities of the two protagonists, particularly Anna Karina's mesmerising performance as Marianne, while also considering how the techniques and directions of the French New Wave align with autistic ways of thinking. This episode features a specially-recorded introduction by Lillian Crawford paying tribute to Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina. Do you have any thoughts or tributes to Godard? Send them to us on cinemautism@gmail.com and we'll happily read them out on a future episode. 

Today we welcome special guest host Richard Butchins to the podcast. Richard is a filmmaker, documentarian, TV presenter and disability activist whose credits include BBC's Panorama, ITV's Exposure and Channel 4's Dispatches. Richard's brilliant short films and photography can be found on his website: https://www.richardbutchins.art/ Richard brings along the 1972 documentary Sayonara CP (also known as Goodbye CP) directed by Kazuo Hara for Alex and Ethan to discuss. This tough and unflinching film follows the lives of Yokota Hiroshi and Yokozuka Koichi, two members of an activist group for people with cerebral palsy. Richard offers the film as an example of a direct engagement with disability discomfort that asks questions of an audience's perception and acceptance of physical and cognitive difference. Many thanks to Richard for agreeing to be a guest on the show. If you have a response to the discussion on today's episode, please do get in touch with us! You can email us your thoughts on cinemautism@gmail.com or tweet us a reaction at @AutismCinema.