Wretches & Jabberers
Two men with autism travel to Sri Lanka, Japan and Finland to change how the world sees disability and intelligence.
A film by Gerardine Wurzburg
State of the Art, Inc.Secure checkout on Tribushare · Sold by Tribushare on behalf of State of the Art, Inc.
- Released
- 2011
- Genre
- Documentary
- Runtime
- 1h 34m
- Audio
- English · Stereo
- Subtitles
- English
- Quality
- FHD
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9
About the film
Limited speech. A whole lot to say.
Tracy Thresher and Larry Bissonnette grew up unable to speak. Like many children with autism in the US before the 1980s, they were kept out of regular schools and faced a future of isolation in adult disability centers. Their lives changed when they learned to communicate by typing, Tracy at 23 and Larry at 34. “Nothing I did… convinced people I had an inner life until I started typing,” Larry says.
With their support team, Harvey Lavoy and Pascal Cheng, they take to the road to Sri Lanka, Japan and Finland. They give talks and interviews, and meet others who are still searching for a way to be heard: Chammi in Colombo, Naoki in Tokyo, Antti and Henna in Helsinki.
Funny and moving, Wretches & Jabberers is a call to stop underestimating people who can’t speak.
Directed by Oscar®-winning filmmaker Gerardine Wurzburg.
- Directed by
- Gerardine Wurzburg
- Studio
- State of the Art, Inc.
- Links
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What people are saying
“May be the best film you'll see on a subject you probably want to avoid.”
“The ability to mix humor and emotion is the strong suit of this upbeat, music-saturated docu.”
“Part advocacy film, part road trip/buddy movie.”
“Presupposes one thing that most films about autism do not: autistic competence.”
Inside the film
Cast & crew
- Gerardine WurzburgDirector, Producer
- John P. HussmanExecutive Producer
- Douglas BiklenProducer
- Barbara BallowEditor
- J. RalphActor · Music
- Gary GriffinActor · Director of Photography
- Tracy ThresherActor · Himself
- Larry BissonnetteActor · Himself
- Harvey LavoyActor · Himself
- Pascal ChengActor · Himself
- Chammi RajapatiranaActor · Himself
- Naoki HigashidaActor · Himself
- Antti LappalainenActor · Himself
- Henna LaulainenActor · Herself
