When he was a child, Alex Asrella thought he had spent time with a series of babysitters. He didn’t realize they were monitoring him for a different reason.
“I thought they were just there to play games with me,” Astrella said in a phone interview. “It didn’t really feel like therapy at the time, and my mom convinced me that they were babysitters.”
Astrella is neurodivergent, a term that applies to people whose brains function differently from what is considered typical; it includes conditions like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder and others.
Those “babysitting” days could also be draining, so to decompress after those sessions, he and his mother would watch films together.
“I was watching a lot of crime,” Astrella said. “Probably a little younger than I should have been, but my family is Sicilian. I had watched ‘The Godfather,’ even though I didn’t know what was really going on, but it was really inspirational and drew me closer to my Italian heritage.”
He also watched other films more appropriate to his age group, such as “The Land Before Time,” “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo,” “Iron Giant,” and “A Nightmare Before Christmas,” which was a favorite of his for its stop-motion animation. Astrella said his love of film led him to pursue a double undergrad degree in sociology and film studies at UC Santa Barbara, where he also produced four films.
Astrella is now the founder and CEO of Blu Star Productions, an autistic-owned and operated company, which is set to launch its inaugural Blu Star Film Festival at the Frida Cinema on Saturday, May 2. It will also stream the festival online on blustarfilmfestival.eventive.org.
The event will celebrate the convergence of art and neurodiversity by showing films from eight different studios that employ neurodivergent adults. Some of those studios include Exceptional Minds and the “Love on the Spectrum star Dani Bowman’s DaniMation studio.
“I want to give these neurodivergent filmmakers the opportunities that I’ve had going to film festivals across the country,” Astrella said. “I want to give them their day in the spotlight and the opportunity to see their work on the big screen. We’re hoping that, with this online platform, we can reach someone in Kansas or New Hampshire, and even though they might be on the other side of the country, they can still participate.”
The eight different films span genres such as action, sports, comedy, documentary, narrative, animation and even puppetry. There will also be an opportunity for a Q&A session with the filmmaker after each presentation with the audience both in person and online.
“Being a filmmaker and going to the festival circuit around the country, I love doing Q&As,” he said. “At first, I dreaded it, but I’ve just become a lot more confident in public speaking. Our goal is to have one or two moderated questions from our host, but we really want to open it up to the audience. Sometimes I come across audience questions I never would have thought of, and I’ve had Q&As that have led to subsequent films of mine. It could also foster a collaboration or the creation of new projects, and that’s what we’re hoping for.”
After finishing up his undergrad in Santa Barbara, he found himself at a crossroads: either move to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams by working his way through Hollywood’s film industry or change course.
He decided to move back home to Dana Point, and while there, he says his mother noticed that he had been coming to terms more with his diagnosis. She recommended that he pursue a degree in special education to become a behavioral therapist and work with kids with autism and aid them the same way his therapists did when he was growing up.
“I thought being in behavioral therapy was going to be a part-time thing, but ended up falling in love with it, ” Astrella said.
He earned his master’s degree at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and while there, for the first time, felt confident enough to come out publicly about his diagnosis. Although he had spent a lot of his time going to behavioral therapy sessions as a kid, Astella hadn’t come to terms with being neurodivergent until high school. Even then, he kept that to himself, and he was often bullied.
However, while pursuing his degree in special education, Astrella found purpose in his diagnosis and considered how he could combine his passion for film and neurodiversity to promote art and awareness, which led him to found Blu Star Productions. Then came the idea of hosting a film festival that champions neurodiversity.
He said his company works with Chapman University on internships, and some of the interns recommended that he host the event at The Frida Cinema, which holds community events. When he met with Trevor Dillon, the director of programming, at the venue, he knew it was a good fit.
“They’re really cool people, and their mission is to provide an inclusive theater that showcases the diversity of projects, which fits in line with our mission of inclusion and amplifying neurodivergent voices,” he said. “They’ve been tremendous to work with thus far.”
Astrella said he hopes the festival paves the way for an annual event in Orange County and inspires other places across the country to do the same.
“I feel like neurodivergent films have their own flair,” he said. “We really want to foster a sense of belonging. If somebody is tuning in from a rural spot or elsewhere in the country, and maybe they don’t know much about neurodiversity, I want them to hopefully redefine their sense of possibility by looking to these filmmakers who are creating some kick-ass films.”
Blu Star Film Festival
When: 3-11 p.m. Saturday, May 2.
Where: The Frida Cinema, 305 E 4th St #100, Santa Ana.
Tickets: Admission for in-person and online streaming passes begins at $30 at blustarfilmfestival.eventive.org.