SHARJAH: A Sharjah based teacher is making her directorial debut with a thought-provoking movie on autism and to keep things close to reality she has cast her Emirati son in the lead role as the 23-year-old suffers from the neurodevelopmental disorder himself.
Dedra Stevenson, originally from Alabama, USA, said her short film, Lemonade, tells the story of autistic people through the character of her son Ibrahim Hussein.
DIFF
The film has been sent to the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) for review and Stevenson hopes it will make the cut when the festival opens in December.
“Lemonade highlights the importance of keeping an autistic person engaged through various activities. Autistic children become very demanding as they grow up. Their emotional outbursts can be trying. They require attention and supervision at all times. Unfortunately, adult centres in the UAE are insanely expensive and beyond the reach of most,” said Stevenson, who has been assisted in the film by Emirati graduates Sarah Alhashmi, Fatma Hassan Taher and Shaikha Ali Bin Jarsh Al Suwaidi.
The film was shot over six months in Sharjah with countless takes and retakes.
“We faced numerous hurdles but in the end it was worth it,” added Stevenson, who has authored four books and is also the co-founder of Women in Film and Television UAE, a non-profit organisation that aims to foster the professional development of women in the film industry and other television and media sectors.
