“ASD Band is a group of musicians who are all on the autism spectrum: we’re all autistic and we’re all in a band,” explains Jackson D. Begley, who plays guitar and sings in the band, alongside singer Rawan Tuffaha, drummer Spenser Murray, pianist Ron Adea, and their musical director, Maury LaFoy. This heartfelt documentary chronicles the enthusiastic experience of the band as they prepare to record their first album of original songs and play their first live show. Director Mark Bone takes time to get to know the bandmates: from Jackson’s love of Elvis, Ron’s background in classical piano, Spenser’s punk rock sensibilities, and Rawan’s perfect pitch. The collaborative nature of their songwriting and performing shines through in their excitement, while also allowing them to open to the camera about their hopes and fears, what it means to be autistic and perceived by the world, and how they are (mis)understood by friends and family.
Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary, 2nd Prize, Hot Docs 2022
Q&A Oct 8
Media Partner
Community Partner
Rawan Tuffaha, Jackson D Begley, Spenser Murray, Ron Adea, Maury LaFoy
Canada
2022
English
Coarse language
Open to youth!
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Magic Farm
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Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Released in 2001, John Cameron Mitchell's flamboyant rock musical about a gender-queer punk rock singer from East Berlin pushed the boundaries of queer cinema. It's both heartbreaking and empowering. Screening with the short The Human Voice.
The True Story of Tamara De Lempicka & The Art of Survival
If Art Deco had a face, it was surely Tamara De Lempicka, giving us the side-eye at the wheel of a green Bugati in her famous self-portrait. Rubio's invaluable doc teases out the truths behind the myths, shedding light on De Lempicka's still underrated art.
Image: © 2024 TAMARA DE LEMPICKA ESTATE, LLC ADAGP, PARIS ARS, NY
Amiko
Teenage rebel Amiko loves Radiohead but hates everything else about her boring and banal existence -- and her provincial high school above all. Then she meets a boy... The micro-budget debut of 19-year-old Desert of Namibia director Yôko Yamanaka.
Balloon
The young sons of virile Tibetan shepherd Dargye mistake their parents' condoms for balloons. Meanwhile Dargye is looking for a ram to impregnate his flock. Balloon is fascinated with ideas of potency, pregnancy, and the possibilities for female autonomy.
Credits
Executive Producer
Andrew Simon, Tamara Sulliman, David Bodanis, Stephanie Pennington
Producer
Gregory Rosati
Screenwriter
Gregory Rosati, Andrew Simon
Cinematography
Chris Romeike
Editor
Eva Dubovoy
Original Music
Maury LaFoy
Director
Mark Bone
Mark Bone is an award-winning documentary director based in Toronto, Canada. He has directed numerous documentaries, including 58 Hours: The Baby Jessica Story (2021), which chronicles the rescue of Jessica McClure; Rescate (2017), about the heroism of volunteer paramedics in the Dominican Republic; No Country is an Island (2020), a first-hand look at the tragic Easter Bombings in Sri Lanka; and Battleground (2021), which was awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere.