THE REASON I JUMP (2020)

My new film ‘The Reason I Jump’ launched at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Audience Award for World Documentary.

Based on the best-selling book by Naoki Higashida, THE REASON I JUMP is an immersive film exploring the experiences of nonspeaking autistic people from around the world.

The film blends Higashida’s revelatory insights into autism, written when he was just 13, with intimate portraits of five remarkable young people. It opens a window for audiences into an intense and overwhelming, but often joyful, sensory universe.

Moments in the lives of each of the characters are linked by the journey of young Japanese boy through an epic landscape; narrated passages from Naoki’s writing reflect on what his autism means to him and others, how his perception of the world differs, and why he acts in the way he does: the reason he jumps.

The film distils these elements into a sensually rich tapestry that leads us to Naoki’s core message: not being able to speak does not mean there is nothing to say.

Awards

Sundance Film Festival, World Documentary Audience Award, 2020
British Independent Film Awards, Winner – Best Documentary, 2020
British Independent Film Awards, Winner – Best Sound, 2020
Maysles Brothers Award for Best Feature Documentary, Denver Film Festival, 2020
Vancouver International Film Festival, Audience Award – International Documentary, 2020
Vancouver International Film Festival, Impact Award, 2020
MPSE Golden Reel Awards, Winner – Feature Documentary Sound Editing, 2021
Sound Of The Year Awards – Best Sound in a TV Show, Film or Game, 2020
IDA Awards, Nomination – Best Feature, 2020
IDA Awards, Nomination – Best Director, 2020
Atmosphere Film Festival, Audience Award, 2020
Dublin International Film Festival, Special Mention – Best Documentary Award, 2021
Festival Imagésanté (Belgium) – Prix ‘Nouveaux Horizons’, 2021
Seminici Film Festival, Second Prize – Time of History, 2020
Rome Film Festival, Social Critic Award – Best Foreign Film, 2020
Japan Foundation for Promoting Sound Growth of Children, Child Welfare Culture Award, 2021
British Independent Film Awards, Nomination – Best Music, 2020
ASCAP, Best Documentary Score, Nomination, 2021
Critics Choice Documentary Awards , Nomination – Best Cinematography, 2020
Cinema Eye Honours, Nomination – Best Score, 2020
Hot Docs Top Twenty Audience Favourite, 2020

Press

“enormously affecting – and revelatory… ‘The Reason I Jump’ will change how you think, and how many films can say that?”

Screen Daily

“elegant, luminous …A work of cinematic alchemy.”

Hollywood Reporter

Credits

Director: Jerry Rothwell
Producers: Jeremy Dear, Stevie Lee, Al Morrow
Executive Producers: Stewart Le Maréchal, Jonny Persey , Peter Webber, Paul G. Allen, Rocky Collins, Jannat Gargi, Ruth Johnston, Carole Tomko, Lizzie Francke

Co-Executive Producer: Sara Edelson

Co-Producer: Sam Payne

Director of Photography: Ruben Woodin Dechamps

Sound Recordist: Sara De Oliveira Lima

Sound Designer: Nick Ryan

Editor: David Charap

Composer: Nainita Desai

Details

2020 | 82’ | UK/USA

Festivals

UPCOMING FESTIVALS

November 12 International Science Film Festival, Nijmwegen, Netherlands