SOPHIE BROADGATE
In Motion
A NORTHERN VOICES COMMISSION
Sophie Broadgate’s film sheds light on the emotional experience of autism, normalising and celebrating different forms of stimming (self-stimulatory behaviour). Stimming is a mode of emotional regulation and expression within the autistic community, which many still feel the need to hide or minimise in public. The rhythm of the editing responds to the mood changes found in Michael Gordon’s music piece ‘Weather’.
Supported by The Granada Foundation
MEET THE ARTIST
Sophie Broadgate. Photography: Brandina Chisambo
How did ‘In Motion’ come about?
Even before the Northern Voices opportunity came up, I knew that I wanted to explore the autistic experience in my work. I was diagnosed as autistic six months ago, so it was fresh in my mind. Then, when I listened to ‘Weather’, I noticed lots of emotional changes between the movements, which I thought lends itself well to exploring the emotional experience of having autism. With that emotional experience comes stimming, which is what the film is about.
Could you explain a bit more about stimming, and why you wanted to platform this part of your experience in the work?
Some autistic people use stimming, which is short for self-stimulatory behaviour, as an emotional regulation control. Outside of the autistic community, the discourse around it isn't well known – people are unaware about how important it is. When I was doing research, there were stories of parents trying to figure out how to stop their kids from doing it, and these same kids are in school being labelled naughty for fidgeting. So, I wanted to have these actions on a big screen and say, “yeah, it’s totally fine what you’re doing” and to celebrate the beauty of it.
You worked with people who have autism. Why was this important, and how did it impact the choice of environment for each scene?
They are all autistic people, and these are their actual stimming movements, so it was a vulnerable thing for them to do. One of the individuals involved said watching it was “like a healing experience”; for her to share these movements was to reveal a part of herself she had been hiding.
When I was going through the process of chatting to the people involved, I wanted them to feel comfortable where they were being filmed, so there was lots of talk around the right kind of environment. I thought the location should be something they control instead of taking them somewhere unknown. Marisa is filmed in the woods as she said she would feel most relaxed in nature, whilst the metallic sheet is in Nicola's art studio and is itself a stim of hers – she likes to look at reflections, so will stop to break in her studio and put it up.
Does music often inspire your creative process?
I use music a lot to inspire ideas. Especially when writing scripts, I will make a special mood playlist to help spark things off. I often have songs that are attached to scenes that help to paint a picture of how the emotional changes in the scene will play out. But this is the first time I have made a film where music is right at the beginning, at the conception. I came back to the music through the editing process and used the beats and the emotional changes of the music to inspire the edits. It was a challenge; when I am editing I often go by intuition, but having the track to respond to made for a more interesting relationship with the piece.
You mentioned working on this project has inspired you to make more work around autism. Are there aspects of the autistic experience you feel are misunderstood and should be addressed?
There is more conversation to be had around the empathy of autism. There is this misconception that autistic people aren't empathetic at all, but there are so many people on the spectrum who are more empathetic than most. There is even this extreme empathy on the spectrum where you take on everything and really feel it. Including autistic people in the conversation and having films like this, talking about the emotional side of autism rather than thinking about it as a collection of symptoms, is important. I would like to hear more autistic people sharing their emotional experience rather than the clinical side of it.
What are you working on currently?
My main focus at the moment is developing a short science fiction film that asks what it means to be human.
Interview by Nia Thomas
