2008-02-09 I had the opportunity to watch The Black Balloon (one day after its release on the
Berlin International Film Festival). It describes how 16-year-old Thomas learns to live with his older brother's ASD (+ADD). The director, Elissa Down from Australia, told the audience after the presentation that she grew up with two older brothers on the spectrum and she wanted to show the ups and downs in a family like hers.
I thought it was great.
I went to add it to my netflix queue, but it isn't in the system yet. They add movies to the system before they are released on DVD, so .... hope it gets scheduled for DVD release.
I've heard the title before, but I didn't know it was a movie about ASD!
I want to watch it, do you know if its released in the UK?
As far as I know, the movie has had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival.
It even won the Prize for the movies / age group 14–18:
Prizes of the Generation 14plus Youth Jury 2008
The members of the Generation 14plus Youth Jury Roman Akbar, Zadora Enste, Hans Hirsch, Nora Kubach, Zo? Martin, Linda Moog, and Lavan Vasuthevan give the following awards:
The Crystal Bear for the best feature-length film goes to
The Black Balloon by Elissa Down (Australia)
We were very moved by the close to life story portraying the everyday life of an extraordinary family in this film. We were especially impressed by the way in which joyous and serious moments were expertly interwoven, and also by the actors’ excellent performances.
I'm sure it will be released to movie theaters all over the world and on DVD soon with this additional incentive.
I used to be obsessed with The Red Balloon.