The Reason I Jump

Q&A at 6:00pm; Film at 7:00pm

Co-presented by Intermountain Centers for Human Development and The Loft Cinema

Don’t miss this special World Autism Month screening of the award-winning documentary The Reason I Jump, featuring a pre-film Q&A with special guests DANI BOWMAN, Autism advocate, entrepreneur, producer, speaker and star of the hit Netflix series Love on the Spectrum, and JOHN ELDER ROBISON, Neurodiversity Scholar and acclaimed author of such books as Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s and Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change and Emotional Awakening!

Winner of the Sundance World Documentary Audience Award, and based on the best-selling 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 insights into autism, written when he was just 13, with intimate portraits of five remarkable young people. It opens a window for audiences into an intense and overwhelming, but often joyful, sensory universe. Moments in the lives of each of the characters are linked by the journey of a young Japanese boy through an epic landscape; narrated passages from Naoki’s writing reflect on what his autism means to him and others, how his perception of the world differs, and why he acts in the way he does: the reason he jumps. The film distills these elements into a sensually rich tapestry that leads us to Naoki’s core message: not being able to speak does not mean there is nothing to say. (Dir. by Jerry Rothwell, 2020, USA/UK, 82 mins., Not Rated)

This event is made possible through support from Hazen Enterprises and the Easton Fund for Autism Research held at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.