We take a different film per episode and explore its relation to autism. Sometimes this is obvious - perhaps there is an autistic character, or a theme of neurodiversity. Sometimes this is less obvious - it may be that one of our contributors has seen autism expressed in the movement of the camera or the use of sound. Join us for explorations through a neurodivergent cinematic spectrum!
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We take a different film per episode and explore its relation to autism. Sometimes this is obvious - perhaps there is an autistic character, or a theme of neurodiversity. Sometimes this is less obvious - it may be that one of our contributors has seen autism expressed in the movement of the camera or the use of sound. Join us for explorations through a neurodivergent cinematic spectrum!
ET: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) with Sam Chown-Ahern
Autism Through Cinema
1 hour 15 minutes 40 seconds
2 years ago
ET: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) with Sam Chown-Ahern
ATC phone home, ATC phone home...!
We're back among the aliens and the spaceships today as we tackle Steven Spielberg's tear-jerking classic. We're also incredibly delighted to welcome yet another wonderful special guest, the brilliant Sam Chown-Ahern! Sam is a filmmaker, artist, collaborator, and member of the Neurocultures Collective, who are currently working with Autism Through Cinema in the creation of an experimental feature film. Sam also presented a wonderfully bizarre re-edit of a scene from ET at the Autism Through Cinema conference in January 2023, and we discuss her motivations behind these artistic choices.
But mostly, we're having a good old chat about a well-beloved film. We find particular interest in the film's navigation of tropes from horror films and family dramas, and we consider Elliot as a figure of loneliness. We also pick up on ET as a film about communication, connecting this with non-normative modes of autistic communication.
Huge thanks to Sam! Check out Sam's work here: https://www.samchown-ahern.com/
Autism Through Cinema
We take a different film per episode and explore its relation to autism. Sometimes this is obvious - perhaps there is an autistic character, or a theme of neurodiversity. Sometimes this is less obvious - it may be that one of our contributors has seen autism expressed in the movement of the camera or the use of sound. Join us for explorations through a neurodivergent cinematic spectrum!
