Reviews have been mixed, both celebrating the accomplishment of a mentally and emotionally challenged young author and expressing discomfort with the involvement of Higashida's communications facilitator (his mother) and English language translators (Keiko Yoshida and her husband David Mitchell). He was 13 years old when he wrote the book which was published in English in 2013. He was born in 1992 and diagnosed with autism when he was five. For more information and to book your ticket, please click here.Naoki Higashida (東田直樹 Higashida Naoki) is the Japanese author of The Reason I Jump: One Boy's Voice from the Silence of Autism. The sessions on Sunday 14 August (ACMI) and Saturday 20 August (Pentridge Coburg) will run as Relaxed Screenings.

“As emotionally piercing as it is beautiful to behold … this compassionate, creative documentary will open ears and eyes in equal measure.” – Variety The result, which took home Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Audience Award in 2020, is a remarkably empathetic work likely to change minds, warm hearts and inspire conversation about the autism spectrum. Through exquisite cinematography and sound design, it depicts the sometimes disorienting and overwhelming but equally rich and joyful experiences of each individual’s interior life. Recalling Notes on Blindness (MIFF 2016) and Unrest VR (MIFF 2017) in its sensory-led audiovisual approximation of a world that neurotypical audiences often struggle to understand, Rothwell’s film artfully weaves Higashida’s words with the stories of five other neurodiverse young people from around the world.

In adapting it for the screen, director Jerry Rothwell ( How to Change the World, MIFF 2015) has created something equally robust and innovative. A groundbreaking international bestseller, the book – whose English version was co-translated by author David Mitchell – offers unprecedented insights into the active and creative mind of someone living with non-verbal autism. Higashida was just 13 years old when The Reason I Jump was published. Returning to MIFF after 2021’s COVID cancellation, this Sundance Audience Award winner is a revelatory, immersive adaptation of Naoki Higashida’s memoir of a neurodiverse life.

The reason i jump by naoki higashida