Filmmakers Geneva Peschka and Julia Ngeow build their short film around the unique communications style of a teenager on the autism spectrum. Emma Zurcher-Long is a bright and lively 14-year-old, and the duo capture her bounding around her family's spacious Manhattan apartment, Central Park, and the streets and subways of the city. They begin by stitching together home-movie footage that shows Emma growing from birth to adolescence. Nothing seems amiss until it becomes clear that her verbal skills don't align with her physical and mental abilities. Though she can express simple thoughts verbally, she is unable to give voice to more complicated concepts. Even when she attempts to repeat words spoken by instructors, they come out differently (in one sequence, she keeps saying "ever" instead of "never"). She describes a disconnect between what's going on in her head and what's going on with her body. By working with a therapist who concentrates on her skill with language rather than with speech, she learns to express herself in a way that wasn't previously possible. Now she uses a tablet to type her thoughts, which appear in the film as on-screen text. "There isn't a direct line between my brain and my mouth," she explains through text. "It's more like an elaborate maze." In the film, she writes songs, takes singing lessons, writes blog posts, and provides a presentation at an autism conference. She says she would like to be a performer (the film was produced by actress Vera Farmiga). It's clear that her parents have given her every opportunity to succeed, though Peschka and Ngeow, who credit Zurcher-Long as co-director, don't provide any information about their professions, which would have been helpful, since they appear to have access to resources that would probably be out of reach for parents in lower income brackets. A strong optional selection. Aud: K, E, I, J, H, C, P. (K. Fennessy)