A documentary film showcasing a talented autistic pianist has won a prestigious Scottish BAFTA award.
Harmonic Spectrum, which features 25 year old Edinburgh-based Sean Logan, was awarded the distinguished honor in the Short Film & Animation category at the star-studded BAFTA Scotland Awards on Saturday.
The film focuses on Sean, a talented musician using the piano to navigate life on the Autistic Spectrum. As he is drawn into new musical collaborations, he must learn to balance his enthusiasm and compulsive energy with understanding and compromise, redefining his artistic perspective.
The documentary short was produced and directed by Austen McCowan and Will Hewitt (above), and has been shown at several film festivals throughout the UK.
Having already gained Best Short Documentary at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival and the Optical Sound Award at the Flatpack Film Festival, the BAFTA win is the film’s most high-profile honour to date.
The BAFTA Scotland awards honour achievement in Scotland’s film, television and video game industries.
Sean Logan, who is starring in Harmonic Spectrum, said: “I hope that the legacy of this film is focused on what art can mean for people on the spectrum. Music is a therapeutic tool for people like myself, it connects me to people, music is something that brings people together.
“What I’ve learned is that the help is out there, and it’s by using tools that are out there already in the world for autistic people like myself, that I’ve succeeded. However, we need to ensure that people have access to those tools, because loads of people are still struggling.
“We’re really coming into a great time for people on the spectrum, as autism is being understood and identified a lot more now, and by 2050, who’s to say that neurodiversity won’t be the norm?”
Rob Holland, External Affairs Manager at the National Autistic Society Scotland, said: “We’re delighted to see Harmonic Spectrum receiving a Scottish BAFTA award, as it represents an important step in raising awareness of the lives and experiences of the 56,000 autistic people in Scotland.
“The depiction of autistic people in film and TV has often been from the perspective of non-autistic people and in many cases has compounded myths and assumptions. This film flips that putting Sean’s voice as well as his music at the heart of the story.
“We hope that this achievement will inspire more stories from autistic people like Sean to be told through film.”