Chichester Cinema at New Park
Ben X
CHICHESTER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
With thanks to Momentum Pictures for this UK Premiere
Official Belgium submission for Best Foreign Film Oscar
A galvanizing portrait of autism and its profound impact on both the autistic person and their families and community, Ben X boldly melds virtual reality with live-action vérité style and docudrama to create what may be a new film grammar. Inspired by actual events – the suicide of a mildly autistic Belgian student who was virtually harassed to death - first-time director Nic Balthazar has adapted his book and stage play without committing the sins of over-exposition and staginess those provenances can spawn. Ben (Greg Timmermans) is different.
His life is a universe to itself, where he plays his favourite online computer game Archlord avidly, trying hard to train himself for the harsh world of his technical school, which is for him a daily kind of hell. As the horror of being a daily subject to bullying grows, Ben devises a plan. Then Scarlite comes into his life, the girl he has met in his on-line game. That wasn’t part of the plan...
(Subtitled)
Belgium · 2007 · Nic Balthazar · 90min
