Local autism community shares its story in short film ‘Parallels’
Making movies about the disabled community from a neurotypical point of view can be a risky venture.
Sometimes, you get 1988’s “Rain Man,” a well-meaning depiction of an autistic savant that some still find problematic because of Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of the main character. Then there’s “Music,” Sia’s recently released film that drew immediate backlash from autistim advocates on multiple fronts.
Members of Pittsburgh’s autistic and filmmaking communities decided enough was enough and set out to make a movie of their own that accurately showed what living with autism is like. The final product is “Parallels,” a short film created almost entirely by Pittsburghers with disabilities that digs into the relationship between a high school student with autism and his neurotypical brother.
“I was honored to do something groundbreaking that was a completely new experience for me,” said writer-director Jared Braun, who is on the autism spectrum. “The insight this will offer people is very rewarding and will allow people to see a more realistic approach to how people on the spectrum will handle these types of situations.”
“Parallels” follows Ray (Sam Tornabene) and his brother Rick (Joe Hnath) as the two navigate everything that goes along with Rick’s condition. It was conceived in 2017 as part of a film camp hosted by Evolve Coaching, a nonprofit that supports people with disabilities through education, employment and the arts. Filming took place in spring 2018 mostly at Taylor Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill and a few locations on the South Side.
The finished film was made public for the first time last year and has since played at a number of festivals. A version with closed captioning and another with audio descriptions for the visually impaired are available for free on Vimeo. April happens to be Autism Acceptance Month, so there’s no better time to check it out.
“I think it’s important for our clients and participants in our programming for their voices to be heard,” said Heather Conroy, Evolve Coaching’s executive director. “This is the best example I can come up with ... where they did every aspect of the work, and that’s really important to us to have them tell their own story.”
Braun, 23, of Braddock, is an aspiring filmmaker who makes his writing and directorial debut in “Parallels.” He said his goal was to craft a story that was “relatable as well as realistic.” That included
adding the perspective of a neurotypical character to juxtapose his experience with that of his brother, who has autism.
“I wanted to show the differences, how easier some things were for him and how harder others were,” he said. “The more I realized it wasn’t just one-sided, the more I realized there was a better narrative here.”
Hnath, 21, of Murrysville, portrays Rick. He has been acting since he was 9 and has done background work in locally filmed television projects such as Netflix’s “Mind-hunter” and CBS’s “Manhunt.” In his first crack at movie acting, Hnath said he drew from his relationship with his neurotypical brother, Jacob, when figuring out how to authentically interact with hison-screen sibling.
“I think it was really good to play this person on screen,” he said. “I think it represents a lot
of people in the autism community very well and I was so blessed to be a part of it.”
The other novel element of “Parallels” is the audio description, which was also done
by disabled members of the film’s production team. Luke Lasky, 29, of Reserve, was the film’s key grip and helped in writing the audio descriptions. He and others had to plainly
chronicle everything that’s happening on screen for viewers who can’t physically see what’s happening.
It’s a much less common practice in the entertainment industry than closed captioning, but one the “Parallels” crew was passionate about for the sake of inclusivity. Lasky, a freelance videographer, said doing the audio descriptions gave him a new skill and increased his marketability in the Pittsburgh film scene.
“We talk about disability rights for years and years but we just think about people with physical disabilities,” he said. “There are hidden disabilities, visual [ones]. It’s a good way to think about what others need, and it all comes down to being more inclusive and accommodating for everyone.”
Hnath would be delighted if “Parallels” was embraced by the disabled community and hopes it can also serve as a vehicle for neurotypical people to gain more empathy for those on the autism spectrum.
“Autism is something you can’t get rid of,” he said. “I hope that more people will open up to people with autism because of this movie.”