- In Japanese with English subtitles -

Sixteen-year-old Yoshinori Takeuchi has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. Yoshi’s dream is to attend a regular Japanese high school, but his disability has prevented him from making that dream happen. He is working to understand his disability and make changes that will enable him to get the best possible education.

Filmmaker: Duco Tellegen

Duco Tellegen has made a career in documenting the complexities of children’s lives around the world. Living Rights, his most recent film, explores three stories that illuminate rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Living Rights – Yoshi is one of those stories. Tellegen was very moved by the Convention, but felt that people didn’t entirely understand the complexities of the document. “I think it's such an important document, which at the same time still has to come alive. I thought it was interesting to place the rights of the child within modern society: if you look at the rights of the child, you can't be opposed to them. It would be good if people started to think about situations - [not] what's good and bad - but also understand that in some situations, the solutions aren't easy to find.”

The film, which has its US Premiere at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York, is a touching portrait of the lives of three youths, each of whom are faced with significant decisions about their future. Each story is designed to bring to life one of the rights from the 1989 Convention.

“Every disabled child has the right to special care, education and training to help him enjoy a full and decent life in dignity, and achieve the greatest degree of self-reliance and social integration possible.”

Film web site: www.dovanafilms.nl