Films and documentaries often let us witness the remarkable, extraordinary or entirely mythical – but what about the type of people we pass in the street or at the supermarket? Because We Have Each Other peeks behind the curtains and into the home of one Australian neurodiverse family.  Filmed over a span of five years, the labour of love embarks on a national tour, kicking off at the National Film and Sound Archive this Friday, 12 May.

In Logan, Queensland, an area of high crime and limited opportunities, live the Sharrock-Barnes family. The blended family is composed of Janet Barnes (nee Sharrock) and her two daughters, and Brent ‘Buddha’ Barnes, his daughter and two sons.

Janet was content being a single mother when she met Brent at the local RSL club, however, she was drawn to him and he to her. They just had a feeling they were meant for each other and their love-at-first-sight romance has been blossoming for the past 15 years.

“Everyone in the family is either neurodiverse and/or living with disability or mental illness. The only person who is not neurodiverse in the family is Janet,” says the film’s director, Sari Braithwaite.

Originally piquing the director’s interest was an article about Janet’s eldest daughter, Becky, who is one of only 80 people in the world living with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory. Having just finished a project where a woman was losing her memory, she thought it might be interesting to approach it from the other side; someone who is unable to forget.

The filmmaker grew up in Canberra, completing schooling and attending university here, she then moved to Melbourne with dreams of working in film. Wanting to make all kinds of films, Braithwaite believes there is a certain way film can show everyday life and capture what is extraordinary about it. When reading that article, Braithwaite was drawn to all members of the family, and after contacting them months later and being met with open arms, she knew their story was one worth sharing.

“I think there is such a place for telling stories of people who no one knows about, but who live kind of fascinating and rich lives,” says Braithwaite.

Australia’s answer to the Brady Bunch came together when Janet and Brent moved their families into one house. Janet’s daughters Becky, who is learning languages to advocate for autistic people like herself worldwide, and Jessica, an aspiring comedian with depression and anxiety, thought he was a bogan when they first met.

The other half of the family is the Barnes family. Brent was asked to leave high school; illiterate at 15, his undiagnosed dyslexia meant he had to teach himself to read, which he did with the help of motorcycle magazines. The motorbike spray painter is enthusiastic about bikes, life and his love, Janet. Brendan, eldest son and his apprentice, lives with autism and is a gentle soul and car enthusiast. Kylie, Brent’s daughter, can’t wait to leave the family home, while Dylan, the youngest, is still figuring out what he wants to do in life.

“They’re a family that is constantly getting knocked down because of what’s happened to them in the past, problems of money and opportunity, but they’re never down for long. They’ve got this incredible kind of love that keeps them going and keeps them moving forward,“ says Braithwaite.

The family lives pay week to pay week, and with plenty of struggles to keep them busy, Braithwaite was struck by how generous with their time the family was. Living in the working suburbs of a high unemployment rate area, they each face their own challenges; neurodiversity, complex trauma, economic status or wanting to break free, their stories are individual but also one. There are highs and lows, moments of strain and pressure, but through it all the family brings joy to the screen, laughter is near constant while Janet and Brent are truly smitten.

“I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be great to make a documentary about people who were decent, kind, open-hearted and funny?’” says Braithwaite. “I wasn’t going to tell a film about people who are down-and-out victims, this is not struggle street. This is about people who have hard lives but are still incredibly empowered.”

Brathwaite says at screenings so far, she has loved hearing how the audience has connected with the members of the family whose journeys resonate with them. She says often when you hear about a film with this type of dynamic, you expect to be sad but their approach to life is just so uplifting that it is impossible to leave feeling down.

The director says everyone who worked on this film feels so grateful to have met the family and been given the lasting gift of their wisdom and approach to life; they show everything that is hard about life but also everything that is beautiful.

“Janet and Buddha have an incredible philosophy about what it is to be alive and live through and with struggle. That was one of the things I was completely drawn to and continue to be drawn to with them, that life is always going be hard and throw up challenges but is also a life that is full of joy, dreams and possibility,” she smiles.

Because We Have Each Other screens at National Film and Sound Archive Friday 12 May 6pm; nfsa.gov.au

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