The 黑料不打烊 alumna will receive the award on Thursday, Nov. 7, and screen her feature-length documentary, 鈥淭he Limits of My World.鈥
On Thursday, Nov. 7, elondocs will recognize alumna Heather Cassano 鈥13 with the organization鈥檚 Emerging Documentarian Award at 6 p.m. in Turner Theatre and screen her film, 鈥淭he Limits of My World.鈥
Cassano directed, produced, filmed and edited the feature-length documentary, which chronicles a nonverbal young man鈥檚 transition from the school system into adulthood.
鈥淭he Limits of My World鈥 is an autistic coming of age story, exploring what it means to be a nonverbal disabled person in a neurotypical society. Cassano filmed the documentary from an intimate perspective, as she is the older sister of her documentary subject. The film has gone on to screen at numerous festivals across the United States and internationally, winning three Best Documentary awards and a Jury Prize.
After the screening, Cassano will receive the Emerging Documentarian Award; she is the third recipient of the award, joining alumni Dan Koehler 鈥12 and Erin Barnett 鈥09.
Nicole Triche, associate professor in the School of Communications and elondocs faculty director, said she looks forward to having Cassano speak with students.
鈥淲e have alumni that come back and we want them to be able to share their knowledge with students. I mean, she was a student not that long ago,鈥 Triche said.
Cassano is a documentary filmmaker living and working in the Greater Boston area. When she’s not making films, she teaches documentary production at Emerson College and programs the short films for Salem Film Fest. She is also an active member of the Non-Fiction Cartel.
Following the screening, Cassano will lead a brief Q&A session. She will also attend School of Communications classes and meet with the elondocs program while on campus.