Life, Animated follows Owen Suskind, an autistic boy who found a way to communicate with his family, and find meaning in life, by watching Disney's animated films.
Since a young age Owen has been memorising Disney films, using their dialogue to communicate with family and friends.
He also watches certain scenes as a way of processing emotions.
Life, Animated is the latest documentary by Oscar-winning US filmmaker Roger Ross Williams, who's here for the New Zealand International Film Festival.
Seven years ago Williams became the first African-American to win an Oscar for directing and producing a film.
He previously worked as a journalist with Owen's father Ron Suskind, who first discovered the extent of Owen's connection with Disney films when he used an Iago puppet to speak to his son.
"He said, 'How does it feel to be you?' And Owen said, 'I can't understand anything that's going on, I don't have any friends,'" Williams says.
"And that was the first conversation Ron had with his son."
The revelation completely changed the relationship between Owen and his parents.
Mr Suskind, himself a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, first wrote about his son in the book Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes and Autism.
Williams' film essentially carries off where the book finished.
"He's about to graduate from school, he's fallen in love for the first time, he's about to move out on his own and become independent," Williams says.
It's a universal story about a child coming of age - albeit in an unconventional way.
Newshub.
