HYDERABAD: A film about a child with Asperger's syndrome and his love for a horse piqued the curiosity of several children who bombarded its assistant director Nina Dor with several questions at Prasad's Imax theatre, where the International Children's Film Festival is going on in full swing.

Directed by Huseyin Tabak, the Austrian film 'A Horse on the Balcony' (Das Pferd Auf Dem Balkon) is about a boy Mika (Enzo Gaier) who suffers from Asperger's syndrome and as a result is clumsy and has communication problems. His life takes a turn when he spies a horse on the balcony of his neighbour Sascha ( Andreas Kiendl ), a former maths teacher, who won the animal in a raffle and is eager to sell it off. With the help of his friend Dana ( Natasha Paunovic ), who dreams of being an Indian princess, Mika embarks on a plan to save the horse from the hands of villains.

As soon as the film was over, Nina Dor faced eager questions from the children. Patiently she explained the purpose of the film. "We wanted to make people aware about Asperger's syndrome without having to make them cry or feel sad about it. We wanted to add a little bit of humour," the young assistant director said.

The children had more queries. "Was it easy to make the film?" asked a child, to which Dor revealed that though the film had required only seven weeks of shooting, the preparations had taken several months. "The two children who acted in the film had to become friendly with the horse. It took time. We wondered in the beginning if we would be able to get Mika's role perfect but the effort paid off," Dor said.

Another child piped in with more doubts: "Why are we made to understand that Mika has a father but he is not with the family? Why does Mika's mother tell him that his father is dead and then tells him later that they got separated?" Dor explained that initially Mika was not at an age to understand the true meaning of separation.

The movie also shed light on the other aspects of Asperger's syndrome. "The condition not only results in problems but also gives the victim certain strengths," Dor said. For instance, in the film Mika is shown to be very quick with mathematics and even better than the teacher whose horse he adores.

Asperger's syndrome also has a treatment known as the equine therapy, in which close contact with horses brings about great changes in the behaviour of those affected by it. "One has to try to see the world through the eyes of a child with Asperger's syndrome to understand him/her better," Dor added before signing off.

