An effective documentary chronicling the internal life of an autistic teenager, filmmakers Ingrid Demetz, Caroline Leitner, and Daniel Mazza's How I Am takes viewers to a small mountain town in Italy where Patrick Wanker lives with his family and goes to school. Well-loved by his parents and younger brother (who is also autistic), Patrick has a strong emotional foundation and communicates by means of typing on a laptop computer, where he is able to express what it is like to be constantly overwhelmed by a whirl of sensory stimuli—a rhythm, the buzz of machinery, the blur of scenery as he rides in a car. Viewers see Patrick at home and in school, while his own expressive text (no scientific analysis of autism is included here) appears onscreen, outlining his hopes, dreams, and expectations. How I Am excels in capturing Patrick's remarkably touching lucidity and surprisingly calm core, buried beneath so much internal chaos. DVD extras include a biography of Patrick and a photo gallery. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)
How I Am
(2008) 49 min. In German & Italian w/English subtitles. DVD: $89: public libraries; $249: colleges & universities. Fanlight Productions. PPR. ISBN: 1-57295-505-8. Volume 24, Issue 4
How I Am
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