Underplayed Gems
The whole movie catalogue

Films and series, searchable by what they are

← Back to the shop

39 Pounds of Love (2005)

39 Pounds of Love poster
Directed by
Dani Menkin
Genre
documentary film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 10m
Rating
7.0 of 10 from 2 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb

How it feels

A man with Spinal Muscular Atrophy who can only move one finger travels across the United States in a motorhome. He searches for the doctor who once told his mother he would not live past age 6. Along the way, he reflects on his life as a 3D animator and his will to live fully.

inspiringgentlereflectivehopefulintimatedeterminedemotional

What happens

39 Pounds of Love is a film written and directed by Dani Menkin, with co-writer, Ilan Heitner. It stars Ami Ankilewitz, a 34-year-old Israeli 3D animator who lived with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). The documentary centers on his journey across the United States by motorhome to find the doctor who told his mother when he was born that he would not live past the age of 6. The title refers to the fact that Ankilewitz weighed only 39 pounds during his cross-country trip due to the rare form of SMA/2 that he was born with. Even though he could not move any part of his body except for one finger, he was still determined to use that finger to create 3D animations and live his life as he would if he had not suffered from SMA. 39 Pounds of Love was officially released on April 5, 2005 and was re-released on DVD on October 6, 2009. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? Tell the Catbot what you feel like watching and it picks from the whole catalogue, or browse by genre, country and year.

Lists: Korean thrillers worth the evening · Anime films beyond Studio Ghibli · Slow films for a rainy night · Horror that unsettles instead of startling · Series you can finish in a weekend · Nordic crime worth the subtitles · Good films that end in under 90 minutes · Documentaries that play like thrillers

Loading movies…

What should I watch?