TWO WORLDS – ONE PLANET

This documentary focuses on the Gateway Academy, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based private K-12 day school that specializes in providing education to youngsters who are diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder and high-functioning Autism.

The film details the distinctive challenges that the school’s administrators are facing, not the least being the wide range of developmental disability levels experienced by the students.  Some of the students engage in behavior that can be puzzling to the uninitiated, most notably a pre-teen girl who starts bawling uncontrollably when her initial attempt at miniature golf is not successful.  In that sense, the film provides invaluable insight on the challenges of this educational therapy.

However, the film also offers interviews with academy students who come across as being relaxed and self-confident to the point of being hammy. One boy speaks freely of wanting his own science TV show while another actually directs the camera crew regarding where he wants the cameras and boom microphone placed. With these youths, it is difficult to wonder what is going on – did they benefit from miraculous treatment or, perhaps, were they were always in good health and only needed a little extra effort to modify their rambunctious behavior?

Director Gail Levin adds to the confusion by giving the production a Film Student 101 visual style, with black-and-white cinematography that inexplicably lapses into split-screen effects and occasional slices of color home videos. As a result, “Two Worlds – One Planet” is often more bewildering than enlightening.