2024
Program
Each day of the film-festival will highlight certain themes. This year we will feature four themes (see below in Programme). These themes address critical aspects of life that are significantly impacted by neurodivergence, offering a holistic view of the challenges and strengths within the community.
Following the film screening is a Q&A session, where we'll dive deeper into the themes of neurodiversity. The session will provide an opportunity for the audience to ask questions, explore the unique challenges highlighted in the films, and discuss the broader implications for inclusivity. Filmmakers, neurodivergent individuals, and experts will share insights on the strengths and diverse contributions of neurodivergent people, encouraging a thoughtful dialogue about rethinking traditional measures of normality and fostering greater inclusion.
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Day 1 - 28 October 2024:
Neurodivergence Uncovered: Starting the Conversation
This first day of the festival screens films that provide educational experience, fostering empathy, understanding, and awareness of the unique challenges and strengths within the neurodivergent community. These films offer a sense of recognition and validation for neurodivergent individuals, creating a feeling of being seen, heard, and understood.
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Day 2 - 29 October 2024:
Intermezzo - ONLINE - Behind the lens with Neurodivergent Filmmakers
Beyond the screen and off the stage, step into the creative minds of neurodivergent filmmakers. As part of the Neurodivergent Film Festival, INTERMEZZO offers viewers a chance to engage directly with the filmmakers in a more intimate setting. The filmmakers gather in person, while the audience joins online, yet still part of the moment. No screenings — just real, heartfelt conversations, followed by a live-online Q&A.
Day 3 - 30 October 2024:
Inner World - Exploring Mental Health and Neurodivergence
Focusing on the critical topic of mental health, this theme explores the intersection of neurodivergence and psychological well-being. Films will address issues such as anxiety, depression, self-acceptance, and the impact of societal attitudes on mental health. Through personal narratives and expert insights, this theme aims to shed light on the mental health challenges faced by neurodivergent individuals and promote strategies for support, resilience, and holistic well-being.
Day 4 - 31 October 2024:
Connection Unmasked - Navigating Relationships and Neurodivergence
This theme highlights the dynamics of social connections and relationships within the neurodivergent community. It encompasses a broad range of interactions, from friendships and romantic relationships to family dynamics and community ties. Films in this category reveal the nuances of communication, empathy, and understanding, showcasing how neurodivergent individuals navigate and enrich their interpersonal relationships.
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Day 5 - 1 November 2024:
Rethinking Productivity - Work and Neurodivergence
Delves into the unique challenges faced by neurodivergent individuals in the realm of work and productivity. In a society that often prioritizes productivity and results, these films illuminate the experiences of neurodivergent people navigating professional environments. The screenings challenge conventional notions of what is valuable in the workplace. They highlight the creative strengths, innovative approaches, and diverse contributions of neurodivergent individuals, prompting viewers to rethink traditional measures of success. This event aims to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of neurodivergent talents, advocating for more inclusive and accommodating workspaces where everyone can thrive.
Panel:
Filmmakers: Gitti Grüter (with protagonists Nadja Olm & Iris Spangenberg and Editor Dan Gatzmaga), Jamie Machul, Chanika Svetvilas, Lennart Kistner-Bahr, Elsa van Damke, Connor Macrae Love, Steven Fraser, Marcel Flock (with Protagonist Silvia Maria Schwarz), Laurent Paillot, Olga del Molino, Thorsten Fleisch.
Expert Guest Speakers: Dr. med. Steffen Zech, Jesse Elan (Psychological Counselor), Kripa Navas, M.D. Markus Kohl (Facilitator of ADHS Deutschland e.V., Berlin-Mitte), Neil Milliken (VP - Global Head of Accessibility at Atos Group), Michell Evan (Senior Accessibility engineer at TPGi).
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The Movies & Filmmakers
Sick Girls
What does it mean to have an ADHD diagnosis? Gitti Grüter (Director) takes the audience and five women with ADHD on a journey to the limits of German normality.
Aspie
This is a short Poetry film 'Aspie', by Aine Collins. This poem is created to raise awareness of Autism/Neurodiversity especially in Women.
Mical
Based on an inspiring true story, a 7-year-old intelligent boy struggles to read and write because he is dyslexic. Only one person believes he can fulfil his true potential, his mother. A film by Gordon Lewis.
What It Feels
What it Feels Like was the winner of Best International Documentary award at the Focus on Ability Film Festival Australia, Best Short Documentary St Neots International Film Festival and Best Amateur Film Walthamstow Smartphone Film Festival. A short animated documentary on voice hearing by Steven Fraser.
I'm crying all the time and I don't know why
We ask ourselves why we are crying and try to answer without shame or fear. An animation by Jamie Machul.
Pharma Infinity
In this video artwork, Chanika Svetvilas uses prescription bottles and wire to create an infinity loop sculpture, dancing through a CVS pharmacy to reflect on side effects, treatment, and stigma. Her work explores medical conditions, BigPharma, and care, drawing from her experiences with bipolar disorder and disability justice.
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Chanika Svetvila will be attending the film screening and thanks the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, C.V. Starr Fund for A/P/A Research” for its support."
Lang lebe der Fischfriedhof (How to Bury a Fish)
Mia, Jan and T* want to build a pond in the garden of their psychiatric day clinic as part of a project. But Luzie, who is prone to violence, threatens to break up the group. A movie by Elsa van Damke
Slope
Living in a village full of slopes can drive you mad. Those who have climbed them in the old-fashioned way are fully aware of that. What they don’t know is that their souls might have stuck around. A movie by María Monreal Otano.
AND(H)ERS
When we think of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder we often think of that one particularly loud classmate, the so-called the so called fidget spinner. For a long time, the image in the media was childlike, but what does the life of adults affected affected and why is the disorder so male-dominated? How are women and men affected differently and what do the everyday conflicts look like? A documentary film by Lennart Kistner-Bahr and Florian Lupberger.
A Bridge to Mundania
For those who the stark reality and pressures of life can feel an insurmountable struggle, happiness and belonging exists in a fantasy world of magic wizards, brave knights, and evil ghouls. A movie by Connor Macrae Love.
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Dix Pix
A short animated documentary that looks at the gay male/trans/non-binary body and why it is common for people to send naked pictures via dating apps. The documentary takes an experimental approach in its visual style and tackles themes of masculinity, queerness, solitude and the body. A movie by Steven Fraser.
OH SH*T!
A short film by Elsa van Damke follows a 27 y/o Maggie on a date at her crush’s apartment. When she suddenly gets her period, she rushes to the bathroom — where she finds herself confronted with a monster that’s been living in her head for far too long.
Coming Out Autistic
A short animated documentary that explores the experience of telling the world that you are autistic when you also identify as LGBTQ+. Queer coming out stories are well documented, but the occurrence of telling friends, family, co-workers and strangers that you are autistic is less explored. A film by Steven Fraser.
Pocky-chan
This video work was created by turning real people into avatars using 3D scanning technology and then incorporating them into the film as a bricolage. The title comes from the nickname of a dog that was kept by the artist's family in their rural hometown in Japan. The dog lived for ten years as a guard dog in a rural household untouched by urbanization. However, due to its inability to bark properly, it couldn’t fulfill its role as a guard dog. Additionally, the dog was never given an official name by the family. The motivation behind my work, as well as my creative process, stems from a particular sensory experience that I can only describe as “nausea.”
Whenever Naoki encounters something abnormal or difficult to accept, they always feel this sensation of nausea. This concept of nausea is not only a personal experience but also something that has been discussed in classical aesthetics and various philosophical discourses. A video work by Naoki Okada.
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Space Girl
In this short film, an autistic girl drifts through life as if wrapped in the silence of a cosmic spacesuit. Floating between worlds, she struggles to connect, with words feeling distant, lost in the vastness of space. Navigating a world that feels alien, yet uniquely her own. A film poetry by Aine Collins.
Spoons (After Carolyn Lazard)
A moving image work based upon Spoons Theory, which uses spoons as a visualisation of the disparity in energy reserves between disabled and abled people. Though a disabled and abled person will start the day with the same number of spoons, an abled person may only need 1 spoon to undertake an activity such as going to the shops, while a disabled person might use 4 spoons. In this way, disabled people deplete their spoons (or energy reserves) far quicker and thus have to be conscious about how they spend their spoons. Spoons theory has translated into a colloquialism within crip communities – “I’m out of spoons” or “I’m going to spend my spoons on you.” A short movie by Jamila Prowse.
The Last Maslow's Day
The factory has closed. The machines have gone elsewhere. The chimney no longer smokes. Yet, every day, a man goes to work. Tirelessly. But in these huge empty workshops, the last day of this model worker arrives. A movie by Laurent Paillot.
Astrogolem
A film about a love triangle set in a fantastical world where science and the supernatural collide. The story follows the brilliant inventor, Nikola Tesla, as he and Alan Turing accidentally release demons into our dimension. The film tells a story of love, sacrifice, and the consequences of playing with powers beyond human understanding. It is a thrilling journey into a world where science and the supernatural coexist, and the choices we make have the power to shape our destiny. An animation film by Thorston Fleisch.
Aufsicht (Supervision)
Visibly invisible, they move between the exhibits in the Pinakothek der Moderne. They are not allowed to sit, they are not allowed to read - they are the guardians of art. They make sure that nobody touches anything, turn off the shrill beeping alarm for the 100th time a day if a visitor has come too close to a painting again, observe who is touched by the art and who, as a family man dragged along, would rather have stayed at home on the sofa after all. Sometimes they even dream themselves far away. A movie by Lion Bischof.
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Note: This film is shown with extended subtitles (SDH) and audio description (AD) for people with visual impairments, provided by Klappe Auf.
Von den Amöben zum Bösen (From Amoebas to Evil)
It's all a story-teller thing: fantasies of the past. Not t h i s history, but stories of the world ... from amoebas to evil.
A fantasy-driven retelling of world history: What were the Big Bang and primordial soup, how were the wheel and the rollator invented? Professor Birgit Hohnen mixes facts, fiction and alphabet soup, questions truths and turns them on their head, stirred and shaken. A movie by Daniela Chmelik and Iskender Kökce.
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Note: This film is shown with extended subtitles (SDH) and audio description (AD) for people with visual impairments, provided by Klappe Auf.
Not the Clowns
After the autistic young actress Cassie fails an audition because she can't show fear, Cassie seeks solace with her autistic younger brother Dave, who is a movie geek. Together with her current boyfriend Levi, they watch the horror movie “Not the Clowns”, which soon shifts the boundaries between dream and reality for Cassie. A movie by Marcel Flock.
Veronika
Illustrated by fairytale-like sand paintings, the film delves into Veronika's hidden world. She is autistic and has multiple physical disabilities. Nobody could have imagined that Veronika has a wide-awake mind. As an adult, she has learned to make herself understood using a sophisticated sign system. A sensitive portrait of an extraordinary person. A movie by Mark Michel.
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Note: This film is shown with extended subtitles (SDH) and audio description (AD) for people with visual impairments, provided by Klappe Auf.
Closing the Gap
"Closing the Gap" challenges the notion that gender equality policies have failed by highlighting the often-overlooked aspect of neurodivergence in the workplace. This thought-provoking short film explores how neurodivergent individuals navigate professional environments, offering a perspective on productivity and inclusion.
Directed by Olga del Molino, this short film contributes to the vital conversation on neurodiversity in the workplace, urging viewers to see beyond conventional notions of equality and productivity.
Silvano
Silvano, Elvis fan and singer of his songs, takes the S-Bahn after a coffee at home to his work in the music project 'Barner 16'. In the studio, he rehearses with his instructor and fine-tunes his presentation with his singing teacher. A movie by Burkhard Plemper.
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Note: This film is shown with extended subtitles (SDH) and audio description (AD) for people with visual impairments, provided by Klappe Auf.