Deej

When I first met DJ Savarese, I saw a passionate, earnest teenager bent on using alternative communication to realize the life he envisioned for himself and other nonspeaking people. His views on life and disability were more perceptive than those of many adults, and his fresh, poetic ways of describing them outshone those of almost anyone else I’d met. He burned with an inner fire to “find freedom” in his own life and to “break barriers” for others like him. The timing was right for a highly personal film to explore and celebrate neurodiversity. Together, we wrestled with the challenge not just of how to tell his story but who should tell it. We agreed to become full partners, sharing editorial control of the film. This dynamic, creative tension helped make Deej a much stronger, deeper film than either of us could make on our own.