On Saturday, Jaffrey’s Park Theatre will present a sneak peak of the first fiction film about, written by and starring people with minimally speaking autism.

Scenes from the first act of the film “Pointing Fingers” and clips about the process of the making of the film will be shown at 3 p.m. on April 26 and will be followed by a question-and-answer session with director Michael Bergmann and writer and star Dan Bergmann. The event is free and open to the public, although reservations are suggested. 

Dr. Paul Hardy, a neuropsychiatrist and longtime Peterborough resident who is a specialist in the autism spectrum, will also take park in the discussion.

“There is no other film like this,” said Michael Bergmann, who is Dan’s father. 

“Pointing Fingers” is a murder mystery about a young couple in love, Francis and Claire, who both have minimally speaking autism. After they are wrongfully accused of murdering their caregiver, Francis and Claire must prove their innocence and solve the crime while facing bias and prejudice from society in which they live. 

The Bergmanns have completed the first act of the film, which is being filmed in the Boston area.  

According to Michael, Dan was unable to communicate using words until around the age of 12.

“Like the character he plays, Dan has nonspeaking autism. Until he was 12, he would mostly communicate with us by pulling us in a certain direction, or by getting upset and waiting for us to figure it out,” Michael Bergmann said. “Can you imagine spending that many years being unable to communicate?”

Your Daily Puzzles

Cross|Word

Flipart

Typeshift

SpellTower

Really Bad Chess

About 17 years ago, Dan learned to communicate using technology, which enables him to “spell” out words. 

“Real verbal communications, especially abstract communication, had to wait until he learned to spell out his thoughts,” Michael said. “Once Dan learned how to ‘spell,’ his ability to communicate just took off like a rocket. About three years ago, he decided to become a playwright, which, when you think about it, makes perfect sense. He has been a very careful listener his whole life, and he is sensitive to nuances of tone. He decided to spell out a whole bunch of words for a whole of people to say.” 

The Bergmanns have been working on the film for several years. Michael is a independent film producer, and his wife, Meredith, is a cinematographer and sculptor. 

Dan stated about the film: “I want the most-diverse cast and crew possible in ‘Pointing Fingers,’ and as many differently abled actors as we can reasonably cast. This is because I want to evoke a world, aspirational at the moment, but hopefully normal in the near future, in which very diverse people function together as if it’s perfectly normal to do so.”

Michael, who is the director of “Milk and Money” and “Influence,”  said that at first, he tried to get support for “Pointing Fingers” from the mainstream film industry, with little success. 

“Then I decided to just go ahead and make the film,” Michael said. 

Michael called a casting director friend, Michele Ortlip, who connected him with California author Emily Grodin, who also has non-speaking autism. Emily was cast as Claire.

Ortlip also connected the Bergmanns with actor Lisa Bostnar, who is known in the Monadnock region for her work with the Peterborough Players.  Bostnar, who plays Emily’s mother in the film, told the Bergmanns after filming started: “My mind is reeling. I have never had the great fortune to work on such a script as we are working on now.”

Bostnar and her husband, Steve Jackson, who is the CEO of The Park Theatre, decided to host Saturday’s event as a fundraiser for “Pointing Fingers.”

Michael Bergmann said the sequence of events that led to screening is “totally unique in my experience.” 

“I am just moved and honored and thrilled that an actor in the cast would feel so strongly about what we are doing that they would go so far out their way to support it,” he said. ““It is just amazing and wonderful.”

For information, go to theparktheatre.org/pointing-fingers.