A Brief History of Circles

I don’t know how to describe my sister. So instead of conveying with words, I decided to point a camera. The documentary 'Chizuru' was directed by Masakazu Akasaki of Rikkyo University's Department of Body Expression and Cinematic Arts in the School of Contemporary Psychology. This film, planned as his graduation project, is a fresh and gentle family story that continuously filmed Akasaki's sister, Chizuru, who has severe intellectual disabilities and autism, and their mother over the course of a year.

Jonas Mekas recites poems of his, both in English and Lithuanian. Exclusive Mekas interview by the poet Sparrow. The legendary poet-film critic and film diarist waxes philosophical in rare extended setting exhibiting his transcendental poetic humor. Jonas attacks the crass world of TV advertising and sell-out commercial filmmakers. Contributes zen anecdotes and filmmaking advice. Choice clips include Mekas' Film Diaries with deceivingly formalist amateur "home movie" style, but in small bursts of expression in a quick collage. Footage from Jonas' homeland as well as clips of famed pop figures John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Tiny Tim.

For the members of the comedy troupe Asperger’s Are Us, it’s easier to associate with a faceless audience than with their own families. No matter who the crowd, best friends Noah, New Michael, Jack and Ethan have one simple mantra: “We would much rather the audience appreciate us as comedians than people who have overcome adversity.” In this coming-of-age heartfelt documentary, this band of brothers finds themselves at a crossroad. With real life pulling them apart, they decide to plan one ambitious farewell show before they all go their separate ways. People with Asperger’s don’t deal well with uncertainty, and this is the most uncertain time in their lives.

Off a dirt road in rural Maine, a precocious 20-year-old woman named Michelle Smith lives with her mother Julie. Michelle is quirky and charming, legally blind and diagnosed on the autism spectrum, with big dreams and varied passions. Searching for connection, Michelle explores love and empowerment outside the limits of “normal” through a provocative fringe community. Will she take the leap to experience the wide world for herself? Michelle’s joyful story of self-discovery celebrates outcasts everywhere.

Experimental video art compiled from video taken on an LG Env3 flip phone circa 2009-2010

Experimental self portrait

Extraordinarias: unidas en la neurodiversidad

Two instants separated by 99 days conflict with each other.

Filmed at Masonboro Island, an undeveloped barrier island in southeastern North Carolina, “Tides” contemplates the liminal space between the modern technological world and that more ecological dimension we label as “nature” or “the environment.”

This is a video essay. It is a brief analysis of the connection between the individual and the self, the individual and the changing environment, and the individual and other individuals through three clips: Part 1: 1980 video of Andy Warhol eating a burger Part 2: Canva clips edits Part 3: Clip from Jacques Tati's "Parade", 1974

An investigation about human intervention in nature, from the subjective point of view of the camera, the environment and its transformation are observed.

What are they? What do they seek? When all the lights go out, they will wander. And you will never see them.

Jan receives the group patch at the campfire, Herkules brews up some tea in the workshop and Sidney gets a mohawk haircut done by his father. The film shows fragments from an Oberhausen subculture in which symbols and practices of the outlaw motorbiker scene are transferred to cycling.

Documentary with fragments and records about the boundaries between art and counterculture, based on a debate held at the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, in October 1968.

Soy

Vigiai e Orai - a cultura do medo no Brasil

“Special,” “Gifted,” “Different,”… Despite the vast inventory of words to describe children who are on the Autism Spectrum, we still understand so little about their worlds outside of the medical lens. In Our World follows 3 children in their day-to-day lives – swimming classes, horse-riding, music lessons, special moments with their parents and therapists – and so much more, converging into a narrative that spells hope. The documentary aims to reveal the intricacies of their world and perhaps pave the way for OUR world, and for both to coexist with empathy and kindness.

Director Lee Sin Yee reveals a deeply personal and reflective retelling of growing up with her brother who has autism. This autobiographical documentary explores her relationships with her sibling as they grow up together, yet separately. Interviewing her parents and interacting with her brother, she gives us an insight to her past and how she has come to understand her brother better.

From Germany to Italy, the United States to Île-de-France, Jumbo/Toto, Stories About an Elephant shadows the itinerary of a single forgotten animal, an African elephant doubly-named Jumbo/Toto. Jumbo, as he was called on German colonial ships,at the Amerikakai port of Hamburg, and in Carl Hagenbeck's zoos; Toto, as he'd come to be known with great fame in fascist Italy. An urban investigation and an adventure film, a ballet of flora and fauna and pavement and sea, Jumbo/Toto, Stories About an Elephant is a modern epic of the joy and pain of the 20th century set in what still remains strange and unknown: the 21st century, and the solitude of telling a story.

A 16mm experimental short film loosely following a cormorant as it attempts to dry its wings.