One of the most amazing lines of dialogue in this very intimate portrait of young people with Asperger’s Syndrome is: “Aren’t autistic people sort of aliens, too? They think all the time.” Miroslav Janek followed several “Aspies” over a period of two years and discovered a fairytale world: hyper, obsessed, annoying, artistic, melancholy, weird. Full of self-hatred, too, when 14-year-old Majda furiously belts out her depressed Rap as she stomps through the village.
The film’s drive comes from the Aspies’ unique energy. The camera works mainly with close-ups, creating a surprising willingness in the audience to follow these strange people into their world. Strange from the point of view of a majority who determines what’s allowed and what isn’t to reaffirm its own “normality” or “mental health”. Which describes the challenge the young protagonists have to face every day: existing in an environment that doesn’t see, feel, think or perceive as they do. Miroslav Janek and Tonička Janková, to whose editing the film owes its remarkably light touch, translate this attitude to life into a great poetic tale about the beauty of being different.
Matthias Heeder
Nominated for MDR Film Prize, Young Eyes Film Award
