Rochester Art Center screening documentary by Rochester-native filmmaker

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – A preview of Autism Documentary: The Neuroverse, a film directed by a Rochester-born creator, will be screening at the Rochester Art Center on Sunday, Sept. 27th.

Though she currently lives in Los Angeles, Sophia Dunn-Walker, director and producer of The Neuroverse, grew up in the Med City. A short version of her documentary screened at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.

The Neuroverse centers on the experiences of individuals with autism and how autism is discussed by the larger public.

“It took about a year. We started filming in August, and we would kind of pick up interviews as we were meeting people... It was very organic,” Dunn-Walker said.

Dunn-Walker hopes it will help foster a more empathetic understanding of the autistic experience.

“My brother’s autistic, and he was largely sidelined or ostracized for certain qualities, and a lot of those qualities I actually recognize in myself,” Dunn-Walker relayed. “I have some connections in the film industry and wanted to put more understanding and compassion for autistic people in the film world.”

Dunn-Walker explained that her experience working in a school with autistic children also inspired the film.

One of the students, she recalled, “was very articulate and she was very good at art and music. But I could kind of see how her potential was being shut down before her life had even started, and how she was just being dismissed because she struggled with certain topics.”

The Ed Asner Family Center, an organization created by the son of actor Ed Asner to support individuals with autism, helped finance the documentary.

The Rochester Art Center will be showing a preview of the The Neuroverse on Sunday at 2:30 pm. The screening is part of the Art Center’s Free Family Day.

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