Autism Documentary ‘Wretches & Jabberers’ Headed To Big Screen

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Autism Documentary ‘Wretches & Jabberers’ Headed To Big Screen

By Shaun Heasley

March 3, 2011

In a rare move, an independent documentary about two men with autism will be shown in movie theaters across the country this April in honor of autism awareness month.

The film, “Wretches & Jabberers,” follows Thresher, 42, and Larry Bissonnette, 52, both of whom have autism and communicate primarily through typing as they travel the globe in an effort to alter people’s attitudes about disability.

Starting April 1, the film will screen at AMC Theatres in 40 cities — including top markets like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — through a deal with the Autism Society. The organization will receive a portion of ticket sales from the showings.

AMC and the Autism Society already partner to present so-called “sensory friendly films” at theaters throughout the country on a regular basis in an effort to accommodate moviegoers with autism. At these showings of newly released films, the sound is lowered, the lights are turned up and audience members are encouraged to move about and make noise as they wish.

The adjustments made during sensory friendly films will apply to all of AMC’s showings of “Wretches & Jabberers,” the company said.

“AMC’s decision to showcase ‘Wretches & Jabberers’ in some of its most popular mainstream movie theaters echoes the movie’s powerful message of inclusion,” said Lee Grossman, president and CEO of the Autism Society.

The filmmaker behind “Wretches & Jabberers,” Gerardine Wurzburg, won a 1993 Academy Award for “Educating ,” a documentary about the inclusion of a student with Down syndrome, and was nominated in 2005 for “Autism is a World,” a film about a woman living with the developmental disability. "Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way." -Abraham Lincoln