Maxel (2016)

Mozart and the Whale

A love story between two savants with Asperger's syndrome, a kind of autism, whose conditions sabotage their budding relationship.

My Brother Chases Dinosaurs

As a child, Jack believed the tender lie his parents told him, that Gio was a special being with superpowers, as in a comic book. Now that he is about to go to high school, however, Jack no longer believes that his brother is a superhero, in fact, he is almost ashamed of him, especially since he met Arianna, the first love of his life.

Being There

A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television.

Die Eisbombe

Plot unavailable

The Specials

For twenty years, Bruno and Malik have lived in a different world—the world of autistic children and teens. In charge of two separate nonprofit organizations (The Hatch & The Shelter), they train young people from underprivileged areas to be caregivers for extreme cases that have been refused by all other institutions. It’s an exceptional partnership, outside of traditional settings, for some quite extraordinary characters.

Benny & Joon

A mentally ill young woman finds her love in an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.

Schubert in Love

Olaf tries to make his dreams reality and thereby always gets into trouble with his surroundings. He meets his biggest obstacle yet when his father pressures him into having a child. Finding a woman becomes difficult when Olaf realizes that they have something he doesn't have: feelings.

Forrest Gump

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

The Other Sister

A mentally challenged girl proves herself to be every bit as capable as her "perfect" sister when she moves into an apartment and begins going to college.

A World Record Christmas

Marissa and Eric encourage their young son with autism, who is determined to set a Guinness World Record — and has the chance to do so on Christmas Eve.

Ezra

Stand-up comedian Max Bernal lives with his father Stan while struggling to co-parent his autistic son Ezra with his ex-wife. When forced to confront difficult decisions about their son's future, Max and Ezra embark on a cross-country road trip that has a transcendent impact on both their lives.

Lone Wolves

When a single, pragmatic forty-something recruits the eclectic guy she didn’t go to prom with back in high school to be her D-I-Y sperm donor, but learns that he’s Autistic and navigating some significant mental health issues, her carefully planned hopes are turned upside down in one crazy weekend in Toledo, Ohio.

Molly

Molly McKay is a profoundly autistic twenty-something woman who has lived in an institution from a young age following her parents' death in a car accident. When the institution must close due budget cuts, Molly is left in the care of her neurotypical, older brother, Buck McKay, an advertising executive and perennial bachelor. Buck makes her undergo an experimental medical treatment, with unexpectedly drastic results.

The Puppet Asylum

Otto Baxter, a filmmaker with Down's Syndrome, directs and stars in this musical horror-comedy short based on his life, set in Victorian London.

Aku Jati, Aku Asperger

Jati, a young man with Asperger's obsessed with trains, faces disruption to his routine when his brother Daru's breakup with Kiara removes a key part of his daily life. Determined to restore order, Jati devises a plan to match Daru with Jenar, an independent woman he meets at the training ground.

Talk Back

John, a twenty-something with Asperger's Syndrome, will do anything it takes to be a voice actor. When the biggest opportunity of his life falls in his lap, a series of mishaps may ruin his shot, but they won't crush his spirit.

Cha Cha Real Smooth

Fresh out of college and stuck at his New Jersey home without a clear path forward, 22-year-old Andrew begins working as a party starter for bar/bat mitzvahs—where he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mom and her teenage daughter.

Flying Lessons

Two estranged adopted sisters are forced together by their mother's sudden death: Beatrice, an autistic Chinese high school senior who wants to learn to fly, and Talia, a queer black musician who never wanted custody of Beatrice in the first place. Starring the autistic actress the story is based on, the film blurs narrative and documentary styles and showcases a unique and underrepresented perspective on death and grief.

Please Stand By

A young autistic woman runs away from her caregiver in order to boldly go and deliver her 500-page Star Trek script to a writing competition in Hollywood. On an adventure full of laughter and tears, Wendy follows the guiding spirit of Mr. Spock on her journey into the unknown.

I Used to Be Famous

A former boy band star unexpectedly gets a second shot at success when he forms a bond with a gifted young drummer.

Mr. Know-It-All

A football coach afraid of commitment has to take care of his nephew with Asperger's Syndrome.

Weekend Rebels

Mirco von Juterczenka's novel "Wir Wochenendrebellen" is the story of a father and his ten-year-old son, who is Asperger's autistic. The boy has set his mind on finally finding his favourite football club. But his selection criteria are very specific and besides, he wants to experience all the clubs (no matter in which league they play) live in the stadium.

Barfi!

The heartwarming tale of Barfi, a charming deaf-mute young man from 1970s Darjeeling, and two unalike women who can't help but fall for him.

Tully

Marlo, a mother of three, including a newborn, is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant at first, she quickly forms a bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging nanny named Tully.

Macie on a Good Day

Macie (Jen Santos) is a twenty-three year old woman with IDD (Individual with Developmental Disability) stuck in the middle of a feud between her sisters Abby (Maria Sole), a recovering alcoholic trying to become a more active member in Macie's life and her primary caregiver Megan (Elizabeth Archibeque).

The Sense of Wonder

Louise, a widow with two children, almost crushes a stranger with her car. She takes care of him, even if he's not really wounded. It turns out that he has mental disorders and that they can help each other much more than they thought.

Party Quest

Party Quest is the coming-of-age story of a college student with Autism. The Narrator, who acts like the voice in his head, persuades him to get the girl of his dreams in an epic adventure: a party. It’s just as bad as he thinks it’s going to be, until maybe it isn’t.

Oskar, das Schlitzohr und Fanny Supergirl

Grandpa Oskar takes neither the truth nor himself very seriously. The rascal has just been released from prison, where he was serving a sentence for imposture. Since the ex-con needs a place to stay, he quartered himself in the old construction trailer in the farthest corner of the garden of his daughter Tilda, who is still mad at him. The senior soon meets his autistic granddaughter Fanny, whose antics and peculiarities threaten to break the family under. In contrast to the old man, the 8-year-old takes the truth very seriously. In order to gain their trust, Oskar does not introduce himself to the comic-loving girl as the criminal grandpa, who has been missing for years, but as Professor Krypton. For Fanny, who prefers to wear a brightly colored superhero costume and is teased at school for it, the omniscient mentor from the Superman planet comes along just at the right time, because she has a dream: To win the talent competition at school!

The Girl from the Wardrobe

This is the story of three characters (brothers Tomek and Jacek and their neighbor Magda), each of them is in their own way lonely and alienated. The title character makes herself secluded. Tomek's alienation results from his neurological disease, and Jacek contacts the world mainly via the Internet. This is also a film about love. Love of one brother to the other and of one alienated human being to the other. All together it creates a very universal picture with a Polish entourage.

Fantasy A Gets a Mattress

Fantasy A, autistic Seattle rapper, suffers trials and tribulations from total creeps as he attempts to become a superstar. Along the way he also finds a mattress to sleep on, after being kicked out of his group home.

Isn't She Great

An unsuccessful over-the-top actress becomes a successful over-the-top authoress in this biography of Jacqueline Susann, the famed writer of "The Valley of the Dolls" and other trashy novels. Facing a failing career, Susann meets a successful promoter who becomes her husband. After several failures to place her in commercials and a TV quiz show, he hits upon the idea for her to become a writer. In the pre-1960s, her books were looked upon as trash and non-printable. But then the sexual revolution hit and an audience was born for her books. The story shows the hidden behind-the-scenes story of Susann's life, including her autistic son and her continuing bout with cancer which she hid up until her death.

Ashley Storrie: Hysterical

Star of BBC Scotland's Up For It! and BBC Radio Scotland, Ashley Storrie returns to the Fringe with a raw and hysterical show about mental health and the ways she uses humour to overcome her pain.

Secret Ingredients

While the debate continues about GMOs, Roundup and other toxic pesticides, this powerful film shares remarkable stories of people who regain their health after discovering the secret ingredients in their food and making a bold commitment to avoid them.

The Boy Who Could Fly

Milly and Louis, and their recently-widowed mom, Charlene, move to a new neighborhood. Once there, they all deal with a variety of personal problems, but Milly finds a friend in Eric, her autistic next door neighbor. Eric has a fascination with flight, and as the story progresses, he exerts an enthralling force of change on all those around him.

Cube

A group of strangers find themselves trapped in a maze-like prison. It soon becomes clear that each of them possesses the peculiar skills necessary to escape, if they don't wind up dead first.

Against the Tides

The story of an extraordinary woman, marathon swimmer Beth French, attempting the world’s most extreme swimming challenge. Driven to be a role model for her autistic son, and by her battle with lifelong illness (ME), Beth confronts jellyfish, sharks, wild weather and reluctant skippers. But as her journey unfolds, dangers of the sea prove easier to conquer than upheavals of the heart.

Bone

Alessio is a thirteen-year-old boy affected by Avoidant Personality Disorder (AvPD). Running away from home, he takes shelter in a place far from the city and the people: nature is the safest heaven.

Mercury Rising

Renegade FBI agent Art Jeffries protects a nine-year-old autistic boy who has cracked the government's new "unbreakable" code.

Ben X

Harassed by bullies because of his mild autism, teen Ben finds refuge in an online computer game, which leads him to his virtual dream girl, Scarlite. Together, the odd couple seeks revenge against Ben's tormentors.

A Boy Called Po

A recently widowed, now single father struggles to raise his sixth-grade son with autism. The pressure of his job and coping with the loss of his wife proves to push him nearly to the breaking point.

Music

Zu, a free spirit estranged from her family, suddenly finds herself the sole guardian of her half-sister, Music, a teenager on the autism spectrum whose whole world order has been beautifully crafted by her late grandmother. The film soon challenges whether it is Zu or Music who has a better view of the world, and that love, trust, and being able to be there for each other is everything.

The Black Balloon

Thomas is turning 16. His dad's in the army and they've just moved to a town in New South Wales; his mom is pregnant; his older brother, Charlie, who's autistic, has his own adolescent sexual issues. Thomas finds Charlie an embarrassment in public, so when Thomas is attracted to Jackie, a girl in his swim class, Charlie presents any number of obstacles when she drops by their house, when the three of them go for a walk, and during a family birthday dinner. Can Thomas find a way to enter the world of teen romance and still be his brother's keeper, or is Charlie's disability going to prove more than Thomas can handle?

Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love

A young couple is overjoyed when they find out that, after having had two girls, the wife is pregnant again, and this time it will be a son. However, the boy turns out to autistic. Unhappy with the diagnoses and treatments available, they decide to work out their own therapy program for their son.

Bless the Child

When Maggie's sister Jenna saddles her with an autistic newborn named Cody she touches Maggie's heart and becomes the daughter she has always longed for. But six years later Jenna suddenly re-enters her life and, with her mysterious new husband, Eric Stark, abducts Cody. Despite the fact that Maggie has no legal rights to Cody, FBI agent John Travis takes up her cause when he realizes that Cody shares the same birth date as several other recently murdered children.

Autism: The Musical

Follows five autistic children as they work together to create and perform a live musical production.

A Dark Place

When a young boy turns up dead in a sleepy Pennsylvania town, a local sanitation truck driver, Donald, plays detective, embarking on a precarious and obsessive investigation to prove the boy was murdered.

Nell

In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell — a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.

Latest News from the Cosmos

Nearly 30 years-old, Hélène still looks like a teenager. She is the author of powerful texts with corrosive humor. It is part, as she says herself, of a "badly calibrated lot, not entering anywhere". Her telepathic poetry speaks of her world and of ours. She accompanies a director who adapts her work to the theater, she talks with a mathematician ... Yet Helene can not talk or hold a pen, she has never learned to read or write. It when she turns 20 that her mother discovers that she can communicate by arranging letters on a sheet of paper. One of the many mysteries of the one that calls herself Babouillec ...

The Assembly

Michael Sheen faces the interview of a lifetime with The Assembly, a group of autistic, neurodivergent, and learning disabled people. Expect revelation, chaos, and a lot of laughs.

The Darkness

A family returns from a Grand Canyon vacation with a supernatural presence in tow.

Bill and Bunny

Bill is on cloud nine. He has just become a big brother to the lovley Bolla. At first she seems like any other toddler, curious, jovial and sweet. But as the months turn into years and Bolla continues to live in a world of her own, it becomes clear that she is not quite like other children. Based on the book by Gunilla Bergström, creator and author of the Alfons Åberg (Alfie Atkins) books.

On the Blue Way

The adventure of 12 autistic youngsters and their psychiatrist who walk 200 kilometers along the via Francigena. We will delve into their stories, to tear apart the prejudices that wrongly surround them.

The Lighthouse of the Orcas

A mother travels to Patagonia with her autistic son with the hope that a ranger and a pod of wild orcas can help him find an emotional connection.

Beautiful Young Minds

This BAFTA nominated documentary tells the story of some of the brightest mathematical brains of a generation. Each year, exceptionally gifted teenagers from over 90 countries compete for medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad. The film follows a group of brilliant teenagers as they battle it out to become the chosen six selected to represent the UK.

Arthur and the Infinite

"Arthur e o Infinito - Um Olhar Sobre o Autismo" (Arthur and the Infinite - A Look Into Autism) is a Brazilian film that tells the story of a six-years-old boy that is diagnosed as autistic. As the family reacts to the circumstances, Arthur's mother seeks ways to better understand his life.

Snow Cake

A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.

Rain Man

When car dealer Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both their lives.