What would you call a four year old who caresses all the lampposts in the park? Quirky? Unusual? Or sick?
Such labels are at the center of the debate about autism: is it a disease or a different way of being—or both? In Loving Lampposts, we witness this debate and meet the parents, doctors, therapists, and autistic people who are redefining autism at a moment when it’s better known than ever before. Motivated by his son’s diagnosis, filmmaker Todd Drezner explores the changing world of autism and learns the truth of the saying, “if you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person.”
Updates on the latest screenings coming soon.
About the Film
As autism has exploded into the public consciousness over the last 20 years, two opposing questions have been asked about the condition: is it a devastating sickness to be cured? Or is it a variation of the human brain — just a different way to be human?
After his son’s diagnosis, filmmaker Todd Drezner visits the front lines of the autism wars. We meet the “recovery movement,” which views autism as a tragic epidemic brought on by environmental toxins. Operating outside the boundaries of mainstream medicine, these parents, doctors, and therapists search for unconventional treatments that can “reverse” autism and restore their children to normal lives.
We meet the ‘neurodiversity’ movement, which argues that autism should be accepted and autistic people supported. This group argues that the focus on treatments and cures causes the wider society to view autistic people as damaged and sick. Acceptance is the better way, but how do you practice acceptance of autism in a world where the very word can terrify parents?
And we meet a too often ignored group: autistic adults. It’s these adults who show just how tricky it is to judge an autistic person's life. Is an autistic woman who directs academic research about autism recovered? What if the same woman has trouble speaking and uses text-to-speech software to communicate? Is an autistic man who lives in his own apartment recovered? What if his mother must hire people to do his laundry and take him out in the evenings?
This wide angle view of autism makes clear what’s at stake in the autism wars. Will we live in a world dominated by autism conferences where vendors hawk vitamins and hyperbaric chambers to parents desperate for a cure? Or will we provide the support that autistic adults need to lead the best lives they can? And can these two worlds possibly co-exist?
One afternoon in August of 2007, I was pondering possible documentary subjects as I brought my son Sam home. We had just finished walking the circuit of lampposts that Sam liked to visit in Prospect Park.
At the time, Sam’s diagnosis of autism was a few months old, and he was about to start at a special needs school in Brooklyn. His diagnosis still felt strange to my wife and me, especially because we didn’t seem to be reacting like many autism families that are depicted in the media. We didn’t feel like Sam had been “stolen” from us. He wasn’t sick. He hadn’t lost any skills. We didn’t think his life was doomed to be a tragedy. Certainly, we were concerned about how best to support Sam, but he was very much as he had always been. It was just that his differences from typical children now had a name attached to them.
My wife had been exploring the autism community on the Internet and had come across a group of autistic adults and parents of autistic children who supported “neurodiversity” — the idea that autism is both a disability and a difference, a natural variation of the human brain. This idea felt right to us, and yet I wondered: Sam did not have many of the most difficult behaviors associated with autism. Would we still believe in neurodiversity if Sam was banging his head on the wall or rocking endlessly in a corner? Was a parent’s view of autism simply a function of how difficult his child was?
On that August afternoon, I realized that such questions would be a perfect subject for a documentary, and Loving Lampposts was born.
In the more than two years since, I’ve immersed myself in the world of autism at the same time that the world at large has paid more attention to autism than ever before. Never has a community been less ready for its cultural moment than the autism community. Indeed, there is disagreement about whether autism is a disease, about how to treat it, about whether it is an epidemic, about whether it can be cured, and even about what it is.
These disagreements are on full display in Loving Lampposts. And yet, at the end of the process, I can’t help but be optimistic. I’ve met parents of severely autistic children whose patience, acceptance, and support of their kids are truly inspiring. I’ve met autistic adults--whose voices are too often ignored in the autism debate--who lead rich, full lives even as they struggle with the challenges of their disability. And I’ve seen Sam progress in ways I couldn’t have imagined two years ago.
He’s still profoundly different from other children. But in making the film, I’ve seen that there may be a place in the world for Sam and those like him. I hope that audiences that view Loving Lampposts will see that, too.
News
July 12 2010
Director Interview at Autism Hangout
Loving Lampposts Director Todd Drezner was interviewed by Craig Evans of Autism Hangout. The site features news and resources for parents of children with autism and for autistic adults. Watch the full interview at Autism Hangout's home page.
June 27 2010
Film Wins Award at VISIONFEST
At the awards ceremony for the 2010 edition of the VISIONFEST Film Festival, Loving Lampposts received the annual award given to a film that raises social consciousness about important issues. Festival Co-Director Bruno Derlin said of the film, "Populated with a cast of memorable individuals who share their stories with stark honesty and without notions of prejudice, Loving Lampposts entertains because it uses a very intimate and personal voice to narrate a universal story. It presents a strong debate and provides new insight on a subject that is often misunderstood. It is a documentary that will stay with you long after the lights have gone up."
June 24 2010
New York Premiere of Loving Lampposts
Loving Lampposts played for a full house at the tenth annual VISIONFEST Film Festival on June 24. Playing in Director Todd Drezner's hometown, the screening drew members of the film's crew and subjects who appeared in the film, as well as members of the public. The audience engaged in a spirited 20 minute Q&A with Drezner following the film. The VISIONFEST screening also served as benefit for the Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation, which develops, advocates for, and funds programs for autistic adults. In the photo above, Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation President Linda Walder Fiddle and Director Todd Drezner look on as VISIONFEST Co-Director Bruno Derlin announces that the screening raised $680 for the Foundation.
May 31 2010
Lampposts Screens in Miami
Loving Lampposts screened in front of an enthusiastic audience at the first annual DocMiami International Film Festival. on May 28. The screening attracted members of the public, representatives of Miami autism organizations, and other filmmakers attending the festival who have autistic people in their lives. With its first public screening complete, the film moves on to its New York premiere on June 24.
May 18 2010
VISIONFEST Screening to Benefit Autism Charity
The screening of Loving Lampposts at VISIONFEST will benefit the Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation. All proceeds from the screening will benefit this foundation, which develops, advocates for, and provides grants to programs that create innovative ways for adults with autism spectrum disorders to participate in and contribute to community life.
May 11 2010
New York Premiere at VISIONFEST
Loving Lampposts will have its New York Premiere at the tenth annual VISIONFEST: The Other Festival from June 23-27, 2010. The film will screen as part of the Independent Vision Competition at Tribeca Cinemas. The full program will be announced and tickets will go on sale the week of May 17. Check back soon for updates.
Apr 28 2010
Loving Lampposts to Premiere in Miami
Loving Lampposts will have its World Premiere at the first annual DocMiami International Film Festival. The festival will be held in Doral at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa. The screening will take place on Friday, May 28 at 12:30 p.m.
Apr 17 2010
Post-Production Complete
Nearly three years after beginning production, Loving Lampposts went through color correction and sound mixing and is now completed. The film is being submitted to film festivals and will begin screening around the country this spring.
May 15 2008
Loving Lampposts Receives Production Grant
The Special Hope Foundation has awarded a grant to Loving Lampposts. The Foundation gives money to projects that challenge the prevailing attitudes toward people with disabilities. The grant will allow Loving Lampposts to complete production by early in 2009.
The Filmmakers
Todd Drezner, Director/Editor
Todd Drezner received his MFA in Film from Columbia University and is the editor of several award winning documentaries which have been shown around the world.
My Name Is Alan, and I Paint Pictures, a documentary feature about a schizophrenic street painter, won Best Documentary at the Monaco Film Festival and the Founders Choice Award for Documentary at the New York Independent Film Festival. It had a ten-day theatrical run in New York in September of 2007.
Mr. Philadelphia, a biographical documentary about an early 20th Century Philadelphia businessman, was broadcast on WHYY, Philadelphia’s PBS station, in October of 2007. On the Backs of Giants, another biographical documentary, played at the Cleveland Film Festival and won several awards from prominent competitions.
Todd has also worked as an editor of commercials, and his work has aired on CNN, Fox News, the History Channel, and NY1. Loving Lampposts is the first feature that Todd has directed.
Lauren Silver, Producer
Having grown up in a family that produced such major radio top 40 hits as the Disco Anthem ‘The Hustle’ and the Stylistics R&B Classic ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ Lauren has worked with her family’s Record label ‘amherst records’ and promoted major arena concerts for such acts as Chris Rock, No Doubt, George Clinton and the P Funk all stars and LL Cool J to name a few.
Her film career began when she moved to New York City in 2003. With over a dozen fundraising documentaries and corporate films under her belt, Lauren is now freelancing as a Producer and is working on two features slated for release next year. Her current short film 11 Conversations From the Lower Depths: Cold Turkey recently screened at the 2007 HBO New York Latino Film Festival.
Ben Wolf, Cinematographer
Ben Wolf has worked as a cinematographer for numerous documentaries, narrative features, television shows, and commercials. His work has been seen on PBS, Bravo, MTV, VH1, American Movie Classics, National Geographic, the Outdoor Life Network, and in theatrical release. His films have won awards from the San Jose Cinequest Film Festival, the Urban World Film Festival, the Hollywood Black Film Festival, the Jamerican Film Festival, and the Sarasota Film Festival. Wolf is currently developing his first narrative feature, “Closed Circuit.”
Zack Martin, Composer
Zack Martin has been a professional musician for the past 16 years. He was the composer for The Way We Get By, the award-winning documentary that was nationally broadcast on PBS’ POV. Martin is best known for being the driving force behind the band Carrigan, which has a large following around New England especially in the Boston area. He has performed and toured with a number of bands including Muncy Indiana’s BRAZIL, Drowningman and The Cancer Conspiracy and performed during Austin’s SXSW music festival. In 2003, Carrigan released its first studio recording as a self-titled E.P. In 2006, the second recording, called “Young Men Never Die”, was released on Boston’s Radar Recordings. Martin recently signed with Hello My Name Is Records. Carrigan’s music can be found on iTunes.
Press Tools
Here you’ll find individual high resolution photos available for download in a zip file format. Additionally, a press kit is also available for download.
Johnny Seitz in Performance
Links
There are many organizations and blogs where you can find out more about alternative views of autism. Some good places to start include...
The Autism Acceptance Project
www.taaproject.com
Autism Hub
www.autism-hub.co.uk
Autism National Committee
www.autcom.org