"The auditions took place with a lot of sensitivity": The youth drama starring actors on the spectrum | Israel today

On Sunday, a new and unusual youth series will air in "Here Educational": "Special".

This is a suspense drama for youth, which deals with youth with special needs and combines young people with special needs and youth on the autistic continuum as part of the cast and creation of the series.

Through the story of the main characters and their special families, the series encourages the acceptance of the other and proves that we all share the same complexities, friendships and loves.

"We worked on several levels," the series' director tells Liv Sivan about the casting process of actors on the continuum.

"The series was cast by the amazing Inbar David, who did extensive research. We approached groups with campers on the spectrum, who are in camps and classes, as a group that was photographed together. Apart from them, we had three significant figures, the main character's friends - time".

Did they audition?

"They auditioned like everyone else and got corrections until they passed."

How does an audition of this kind take place?

"With a lot of sensitivity, and sometimes it also takes more time. Since these are not professional players, we had to spend time explaining the situation and what we were doing. There were some that were more complex or some that were harder to commit to emotion, but in the end they all succeeded. That's it and we chose the best for the job. "

Special |

Starting with 3.7 - Promo - courtesy here Educational

Do such filming days go on as usual or are there any changes?

"Because of the fast-paced filming of teen series, we worked at the same pace, but with more sensitivity. Whenever it was possible to take a break, we did. Sometimes you had to linger with them on texts. We wanted to, and sometimes the third and fourth time was a little harder than in other cases. "

Were there scenes they feared?

"There was a scene where Fala was supposed to shoot at sea, even though he was afraid of him. He had to move between boats, and eventually overcame the fear and did so."

How was the interaction between the players with the special needs and the other players?

"Amazing. I couldn't have asked for better than that. It was just like working with experienced actors alongside inexperienced ones. The first ones took them under their wing. Between Tom Amsalem and Fala Raz, who played brothers, a relationship really developed, and between those Bar who plays Alona and "Yael Lifshitz and Fala developed friendships. At a certain point, they really became a bunch."

What does this type of project do for you personally as a director?

"Since my work product is something that is watched by a lot of people, I take seriously what I bring to the world, and in every project I work on I hope it has added value. The thought here is to open up the world, to expand our visuals, to introduce a new language And new people, and look at the world in a different way. "

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