In tune with autism awareness

It was World Autism Day last Wednesday, and Image Nation used the opportunity to announce its latest feature-length documentary, As One, directed by the Emmy-Award winner Tricia Regan and produced in association with Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Autism Project, which aims to raise awareness of autism in the UAE.

Regan herself is no stranger to autism, having already directed the Primetime Emmy-winning Autism: The Musical, and the director notes that her experience in the field and the success of this film were key factors in Image Nation's approach.

“People do ask me if I have a family member with autism, as it’s a subject close to my heart,” she says. “But it’s just a subject that’s fascinated me ever since my first high- school psychology class. As an artist, I do perceive things in a different way to many people, which kind of puts me off the scale in a similar way to autism, and the subject of how different we all are fascinates me.

"I was originally recommended as an adviser to the Autism: The Musical team by a friend with an autistic child, and ended up directing," Regan recalls.

“On the basis of that, I was recommended by a number of people, including HBO, to the Image Nation team when they were looking to make a film about autism, so there’s a very direct link between that first film and this one.”

The children

With both films following the adventures of a group of autistic children through a musical theatre programme, the similarities extend beyond just sharing a director, but Regan insists that the two films are very different animals.

“Image Nation wanted to turn the film around quite quickly, and, as I’m New York-based, my knowledge of the field in the UAE was limited, so I said I could come to the UAE and spend six months looking for a story, or I could do a similar thing – find some people, set up a musical programme and we’ll follow it, we’ll get quicker results that way.

“However, I think this film has come out much more about the children than its predecessor. People in the US are very open about their experience and there’s very little stigma attached to disability, so a lot of the first film became about the parents’ experience, although the kids were amazing, too. Here, the kids were from all over world, I didn’t have as much time to spend with the families and the parents were often from cultures where they were more reticent to share private details, which I totally respect. That meant that the film became much more about the kids’ experience, and that’s great because they were so amazing and so joyful.”

Awareness

Although the parents may not have been as forthcoming as their counterparts in the United States, Regan is keen to emphasise that she doesn’t see this as the result of any shame or stigma on their part.

“There’s simply less awareness of autism here,” she says. “I think a lot of the parents participated not because they thought the kids would have a great time – many were surprised how much fun their kids did end up having – but because they saw an opportunity to raise that awareness. Ironically, the one family that did open up the most were American.”

The relatively low profile of autism here in the UAE presented its own problems for Regan – when she initially tried to set up the musical theatre group, she discovered there was not a single qualified professional in the country, and she was eternally grateful to the mainly young Emirati female volunteers from Zayed University who came and helped out with workshops. The volunteers meant that, for much of the time, Regan was able to offer a one-to-one ratio with the children, enhancing their experience greatly.

Standing out

Films such as As One will clearly help raise the profile of autism in the region, but, with at least one other autism documentary shot in the UAE in the last 12 months or so, will this one stand out from the crowd? Regan believes so.

“What sets this film apart is that it’s really celebratory, joyful, and there are lots of laughs alongside the hard moments. No one wants to see a movie that’s like root canal surgery, and here there are no scientists telling you about autism,” she says.

“The audience will learn about the subject the same way I did: by getting to know some amazing kids and their families.”

Principal shooting on As One was completed at the turn of the year, and the film is now in post- production with Regan in New York. Image Nation anticipates a late 2014 release.

cnewbould@thenational.ae