Manon – “an insightful documentary that transports us into the world of Autism…unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.” 77 minutes.

In 2004 when I began working as the Editor on this documentary, very little was known about Autism… approximately one in ten thousand children were being diagnosed. The Cinematographer Marc Kaczmarek had never even head the word Autism. Then one day his old friend Jacquot called to say he was bringing his Autistic daughter for a visit… Marc assumed that he meant she was artistic.

When Manon arrived…and the surprise wore off, Marc found that the only way he could process his confusion and sadness was to pick up his camera. So, with no prior knowledge of Autism, Marc began to travel with the family…shooting everything. Soon he was sending me hours of raw footage… and I was mesmerized.

As the piece began to take shape, I decided to use as few words as possible…at first just Marc’s powerful images and Roger Kellaway’s incredible music. The inevitable narration developed naturally from interviews with the family and excerpts from Jocquot’s letters to Marc over the years.

Today, the number of children being diagnosed with Autism has risen to one in fifty nine…but for boys, it is as high as one in thirty seven. We have learned a lot, but not enough. This is a portrait of one amazing family and their journey of love.

I hope you will find it as fascinating as I have.

Jorjana Kellaway
August, 2019

“I sat down and watched Manon again with pencil and paper ready to note comments.
I didn’t write a thing.
You took me there.
Bravo!”

Arthur Kornhaber M.D.
Ojai, CA 93023
www.grandparenting.org

Dr. Arthur Kornhaber’s books can be accessed at:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=arthur kornhaber keywords=arthur%20kornhaber