A diagnosis story unexpectedly becomes two diagnosis stories

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After watching Alexander Hammer’s “Expecting Amy,” a 2020 docuseries about Amy Schumer‘s difficult pregnancy, Jenn Freeman’s life changed.

In the series, Schumer’s husband, Chris Fischer, is unexpectedly diagnosed with autism. Fisher’s story struck a chord with Freeman, which prompted her to seek an autism evaluation. At the age of 33, Freeman, a celebrated dancer and choreographer, received an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.

Freeman reached out to Hammer, an old friend, to congratulate him on the series and to share her recent diagnosis. The next day, Hammer was in Freeman’s apartment filming her.

The result is “Room to Move,” a documentary that follows Freeman as she navigates the most transformative chapter of her life. Executive produced by Schumer and Fischer, the doc captures Freeman over a five-year period during which she develops an understanding of herself and creates a one-woman dance performance, “Is It Thursday Yet?”

Halfway through the doc, Hammer unexpectedly becomes a subject of his own doc after he is diagnosed with autism.

“Visually and structurally, “Room to Move” is layered and expressive,” says Hammer. “We weave together vérité footage, personal archives, fragments from an evolving stage work, and poetic, impressionistic sequences that interpret the psychological terrain Jenn was navigating — sensory processing, masking, and the pressure to perform normalcy. Each thread offers a different emotional texture. The whole is meant to feel like memory: shifting, nonlinear and deeply felt.”

Variety spoke with Hammer, Freeman, and Schumer ahead of the Tribeca Fest’s “Room To Move” premiere on Wednesday.

Jenn, what was it about Chris’ autism diagnosis in “Expecting Amy” that made you think you also might have autism?

Freeman: I had never thought even once that I was autistic. I really didn’t even know what autism was, but it was the way that Chris’ family was talking about him that something clicked. Some of the language that my family members have used to talk about me just always felt like I was something other than. Or a little bit on the outside. When I heard Chris’s family talking about him, it was overwhelming. I’ll never ever forget that moment when I was watching it. It was like a full-body, earth-shattering feeling.

You reveal a lot of personal information about yourself. Did you ever have any hesitations about making this doc?

Freeman: Even though it felt so scary, I just knew to say yes. It’s like Chris and Amy were brave enough to share their stories, so I was going to be brave enough to share mine, and then Alex was brave enough to share his.

Alex, you find out about halfway through the film that you also have autism. Any hesitation on your part about putting yourself in the doc?

Hammer: I actually fought against it for the longest time, and I was beaten down again and again, I think, for the better. Giving information and my personal experiences without going too far into them was a challenge. But, I do think that it gives a perspective that is similar but also different from Jenn’s, which just adds another layer to the story because we have so many similarities and we have so many differences between the two of us. We are just two people. We’re just two out of how many millions with autism.

Schumer: It’s so helpful to get two people who are going through it. That perspective is so helpful.

Alex, when did you ask Amy to executive produce the film?

Hammer: I brought the idea to her right away, and she said, ‘Absolutely. Let’s figure this out.’ And that’s kind of the motto of the film because we kind of all went in being like, “We don’t know what this is, but it’s going be something.”

Amy, how would you describe your role on this film?

Alex would send me some rough cuts. I don’t know what it’s like to work with me as a collaborator, but I feel like I was encouraging, and if I felt like it wasn’t there yet, I shared that. I just tried to be really honest.

Is one of the goals of the doc to break the stigma around autism?

Schumer:It’s to destigmatize it for sure. It’s one of the takeaways because you know, when all people are seeing is “Love on the Spectrum,” which I love, or “Rain Man,” people really don’t have much of a reference for it. There aren’t that many people who are out. My husband is out, and that might not be what everybody’s thing is, but yes, we want to definitely de-stigmatize autism.

Freeman: This is embarrassing, but one of the first things I did was Google celebrities who are autistic because it helps. You are trying to see yourself. Like, what does it look like, and also you are trying to see if I can have this thing and still have success or whatever. When I googled, I got Temple Grandin, and she is iconic, but I don’t really see much of myself in her. So, I think just sharing different experiences (on the spectrum) is good.

Schumer: I’ll just add that the takeaway of this doc is not to get diagnosed and fly your autism flag. It’s more like – get the information for yourself or for your loved ones. Take a test. Find out for yourself. It’s such a helpful thing to have the information.

“Room to Move” is seeking distribution.