“Sketch” Explores the Expressions of Art with an Autistic Brooklyn Youth

ScO+pe – Cinema: SKETCH

Screening at Citlalin Gallery Theatre: Saturday, July 9th 1:30-2:00 p.m.

Presented by Peace on Earth Film Festival and O+ Festival Chicago

 SKETCH (played by Kwesi Boakye) is an autistic twelve year-old boy who lives in Brooklyn. His autism isolates him from other children and he gets no help or support from his mother, an alcoholic, or his father who was killed by gang violence several years earlier. By many standards he has a difficult and painful life; but he is resourceful… and a great artist.

Sketch perceives his world in incredibly rich and detailed snapshots. Like a camera storing photos in its digital memory, he stores images in his mind then renders them later with pencil and paper, drawing perfect copies from the abundance of data he is able to retrieve from his memory.

Because he is so different and misunderstood Sketch endures ridicule and rejection from kids in school and people in his neighborhood. The pain and shame he feels causes him to hide. He keeps his thoughts and ideas to himself and doesn’t share them with anyone. He learns to hide so deeply that he even refuses to speak. He channels all his expression into his sketches.

All these forces that are at work in his young life drive him to create a goal, a solution that will give him relief from his impossible predicament: Independence. Sketch goes about achieving that goal in very unique and interesting ways that you will discover when you see the movie.

(Description courtesy of director Stephen T. Barton)

Length: 22min.