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OKAY! (The ASD Band Film) film image, director Mark Bone

OKAY! (The ASD Band Film)

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“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

Stir Logo

Community Partner

       

Director
Cast

Rawan Tuffaha, Jackson D Begley, Spenser Murray, Ron Adea, Maury LaFoy

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2022

Language

English

Film Contact
Links
Content Warning

Coarse language

PG

Open to youth!

86 min
Art, Music & Photography Award Winners Documentary

Book Tickets

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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 headshot, OKAY! (The ASD Band Film) 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.