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Sundance Award Winner THE REASON I JUMP Sells Across the Globe
We are thrilled to announce that we now have 10 all-rights deals in place for Jerry Rothwell’s critically acclaimed documentary THE REASON I JUMP, based on the international best-seller by Naoki Higashida.
The Sundance 2020 award-winner has been sold to Kino Lorber (US), Madman (Australia & New Zealand), Kadokawa (Japan), DCM (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), Cherry Pickers (Benelux), Selmer Media (Scandinavia), L’Atelier d’Images (France), Anticipate Pictures (Singapore and Thailand), and Restart (Former Yugoslavia). As previously revealed, Picturehouse has taken the UK/Ireland rights. Release dates are still to be announced.
THE REASON I JUMP is an immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of people with non-speaking autism from around the world and blends Higashida’s revelatory insights into autism, written when he was just 13, with intimate portraits of five remarkable young people.
Kino Lorber President and CEO Richard Lorber said:
“It’s a rare film indeed that can draw you into mysterious depths as it captures the clamor of everyday life rushing about. THE REASON I JUMP mesmerized us with its empathy and insight into the quiet center of autism. We know our US audiences will embrace it as intimately as the characters portrayed inhabit their own worlds. It amazes as nothing less than a trip to another planet — of inner space.”
After winning the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award at this year’s Sundance, THE REASON I JUMP was invited to a string of major festivals including SXSW, CPH:DOX, and HotDocs. The film will next be screened at the Oscar-qualifying AFI DOCS (17-21 June 2020).
The Film
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Jerry Rothwell, whose previous work includes Sundance 2015 winner HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD, SOUR GRAPES, HEAVY LOAD, and DEEP WATER, the film is produced by Jeremy Dear (NARCOWORLD), Stevie Lee (FRANK), and Al Morrow (LAST BREATH). Executive producers are Stewart le Maréchal, Jonny Persey, and Peter Webber; Lizzie Francke for the BFI; Jody Allen, Paul G. Allen, Rocky Collins, Jannat Gargi, Ruth Johnston, and Carole Tomko for Vulcan Productions.
THE REASON I JUMP is an Ideas Room, MetFilm Production, Vulcan Productions, and Runaway Fridge production and was supported from development through to production by the BFI using funds from the National Lottery.
For more, visit the film’s page.