About this Short Film
The Adventures of Aspie Boy, directed by Blaise Borrer (Australia, 2019), is a short film presented at the Focus on Ability International Short Film Festival. It addresses themes around Asperger's and cognitive processing disability, and explores the experiences of a child or teenager grappling with identity, individuality and the idea of being a hero. Without presuming a single storyline, the film invites viewers to consider inclusion and the everyday achievements of young people with disability. Included in our festival programme, it speaks to our aim of showcasing diverse voices and perspectives, and invites audiences to reflect on how we recognise ability in different forms.
Film Details
Film Transcript
It started off like any other day with me working on my robot. His name is Clunky. I'm hoping when he's finished he'll be my new sidekick. Sorry Timmy. At the moment I'm using my pal's super focus — I can focus on just one thing for hours and hours. Theo, look into my eyes.
However, some things are a little bit harder to focus on, so my other powers make my skin super sensitive to touch. I'm super sensitive to bright lights and I'm super sensitive to noise, but sometimes winners walk only take care more like a witness and a superpower.
Another power I have is super memory. My brain remembers lots of things and is able to store the tiniest details of any story. In the morning when I was building something I realised I'd lost an important piece, which I think might have happened the day before. It's cool — when I decided to take Clunky with me, because when I was playing in the sand part of Clunky broke and I had to fix him. Oh no. Actually I think I might have lost it the day before that when I was in the shop with Clunky, but I didn't know whether I'd lost it at the shop or in the bush. I don't always start at the beginning of the story, and I don't always remember the exact order of things.
My mum says something: you can afford to be forgotten. As you might have guessed by now, I don't always start at the beginning of the story, and now we're back where we started, so it's probably important that I tell you about my kryptonite: social interactions. Sometimes when people want to play with me I prefer to be by myself; other times when I want to play with people they prefer to be alone. Understanding other people can be a bit confusing, but my mum says just because it isn't one of my superpowers right now doesn't mean that I should give up on someone.
So I turned on my superpower: focusing. But you don't always get it right on the first or the second. Superheroes have a lot on their mind, so it's not long before other important things demand my attention. And no matter what, at the end of the day my pet dog always wants to play with me.
Now that Clunky is finally finished I have another friend who I know I can count on. Maybe he can help me understand other people. Now you might be thinking at this point that even though I'm a superhero I didn't save the day, and you're right. But my mum says parents also have to save the day every day.
Filmmaker
Blaise Borrer is the filmmaker behind this entry. See every Focus on Ability entry from Blaise Borrer.
Great editing lovely performances and wonderful insight into Asperger's
Haha this is great guys