The movie 'Ben X' has just made its official debut on the Montréal World Film Festival and was received with great enthusiasm by the professional jury and the public. It captured three prizes, including the main prize (Grand prix des Amériques) and the public award as the most popular movie of the festival. It is the first feature movie for the director and for the lead actor playing the young man with autism.
The movie from Belgium is inspired by true events, the dramatic fate of an autistic boy who was bullied at school until he committed suicide. The movie shows the world through the eyes of a boy with Asperger who finds an escape in his own universe that is governed by online computer games.
While it remains a fiction movie in the psychological drama/thriller genre and not a documentary, the director clearly wants to bring up several "difficult" themes: bullying at school and cyber-bullying, children who grow up being different and their struggle with self-image, recognizing autism, the care and reaction of parents, teachers and health care professionals, and suicide among young people.
The director himself says: 'It would be a tremendous thing if Ben X does the same [as Rain Man did for autism] for people with Asperger syndrome'. The Flemish association for autism welcomes the movie and calls it 'a real eye-opener'. 'The movie gives a realistic image of an autistic child that goes to a regular school. It emphasizes how bad the consequences can be when autism is not recognized by the educational system. The reality is there is still much ignorance, and autistic children do get bullied.'
'Ben X' will be released in theaters in Belgium and the Netherlands within a few weeks. You can already get a glimpse of the movie at the official site: www.benx.be
Let's hope this movie continues to be well received and gets a wider distribution in the future!