Filmmaker’s Biography

Jerry Rothwell is a filmmaker whose work includes the award-winning feature documentaries: THE REASON I JUMP, the immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity based on the bestselling book by Naoki Higashida; THE SCHOOL IN THE CLOUD, about radical educationalist and TED Prize-winner Sugata Mitra; HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD, about the founders of Greenpeace; SOUR GRAPES (co-directed with Reuben Atlas) a film about a wine counterfeiter; TOWN OF RUNNERS, about two girls in an Ethiopian village who aspire to be athletes; DONOR UNKNOWN, about a sperm donor and his many offspring; HEAVY LOAD, about a group of people with learning disabilities who form a punk band; and DEEP WATER (co-directed with Louise Osmond), about Donald Crowhurst’s ill-fated voyage in the 1968 around-the-world yacht race.  His work has won numerous accolades including two BIFA Awards, two Grierson Awards, a Sundance Special Jury Prize and Audience Award, an RTS Award, the IDA Pare Lorentz Award, and a BAFTA nomination.