Award of Merit – “Ordinary World” (USA)

Title: Ordinary World
Runtime: 12 min
Country: USA
Director: Jessica Henderson
Placement: Award of Merit
Competition: June, 2022

Synopsis: Hunter, a young autistic man who has just relocated to  New York City, finds himself in the middle of a hot and sweaty New York summer struggling to adjust. He retreats inward and spends his days listening to music alone and exploring his richly imaginative inner world which contains his only friend, Imaginary. One day, on a tour of a community ceramics center called The Annex, Hunter meets Marley. Hunter is immediately drawn to Marley but struggles to talk to him, let alone ask him out on a date. Imaginary knows Hunter needs, “someone special. Someone real”.  Hunter will ultimately have to find the courage to approach his crush on his own and find his way into a new community. This courage, as courage does, may come from the most unexpected of places in this big city.