Trailer
Logline
Theo, a perpetually tardy student, has two lates left before he’s dropped from his class and removed from the band. He must find a way to balance his life as a student, a musician, and as a kuya to a brother with special needs.
Film Information
| Runtime | 20 minutes (27 minute cut available) |
| Language | Bisaya, English |
| Country of Origin | Philippines |
| Year of Completion | 2026 |
| Genre | Coming of Age, Mixed Media (Animation/Musical) |
Technical Specifications
| Aspect Ratio | 2.39:1 |
| Resolution | 4K, |
| Frame Rate | 23.976024 |
| Color | Color |
| Format | ProRes 422 LT |
| Sound | Stereo |
Stills
Director’s Statement
“If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”
-Dr. Stephen Shore
It is impossible to make a film that fully encapsulates the experience of having special needs or loving someone who does. Every single person with autism is unique and experiences characteristics of their disabilities in their own individual ways. The Knight of Candle Mountain is a drama short film with animation and musical elements about Theo and his younger brother, Teddy. It is based on real experiences I’ve had with my younger brother with autism, Seth. Seth processes language through something called gestalting (gestalt language processing). It’s different for everyone but in his case, this means he learns language by echoing lines of dialogue from his favorite films and shows, and asks us to repeat them for him. Luckily for him, I can go beyond the simple one liner and recite entire scenes and songs from these shows, which he loves to listen to me perform on repeat. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Seth had an extra difficult time coping with the isolation since he was suddenly pulled out of his routine with no explanation at all. Several months in, his depression got to the point where he was unable to leave his bed. As a last-ditch attempt at making him smile again, I prepared a step ladder and my A-game to perform The Up and Down Dance from Elmo’s World. For the first time in a long time, he laughed and smiled as he made me perform the song over and over, to the point where I could no longer breathe. This activity pulled me away from my academics but I didn’t dare stop because I refused to deprive him of the only thing left that kept him happy.
I learned about Seth’s diagnosis when I was about ten years old. Like my parents, I was extremely uneducated about learning disabilities of any kind. To help me understand the situation Seth is in, my mother asked me to watch I Am Sam (2001), Temple Grandin (2010), and The Gift (Season 2, Episode 11 of Punky Brewster). For a child, these are great starting points to help build an understanding of people with learning disabilities. But these works have a big flaw: autism is framed in a way that shows what people with autism have in common with each other rather than how autism makes them unique. To an outsider, the way I perform for my brother tends to be something they’ve yet to see in other siblings; but to my family and friends, it is just our day-to-day norm. What I aim to do with this film is to show the parts of Theo and Teddy’s relationship that are unique to them and only exist because of Teddy’s disability.
At the very start of the film, Theo is asked a question: “What is love?” When he looks at his brother, Teddy, he finds the answer. Love is why the father is never home, trying to make enough money to pay for Teddy’s treatments and therapies. Love is why the mother is sleepless, spending every waking hour caring for her son. Love is why Theo risks his academic and extracurricular life just to keep his brother smiling. Love is hard work, love is sacrifice.
Cast and Crew
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