A father's personal story of autism and fatherhood inspires award-winning short film 'Love Zurri'

A powerful new short film is using a personal story to shine a light on autism and fatherhood. "Love Zurri" follows a family navigating life with their daughter, and the project has already earned two Telly Awards for directing and social impact.

Mohammed Williams is the executive producer and lead actor. The story was inspired by his own family. He said he wanted to tell it in part because fathers are often left out of the conversation.

"A lot of these stories when they're told, you never really see it from the dad's perspective. You always see it from the mom's perspective … the moms, they have like mom groups, they have all these support groups that I just didn't see for dads," Williams said.

One scene shows Williams running as his daughter, Zurri, appears to be missing — a moment drawn directly from his real life.

"That scene is exactly what happened and the tears that were coming up, it was just really me being back in that same space and the director Okima T. Moore had to actually pull me back and we had to stop production," Williams said.

For Williams, raising his daughter has been a lesson in growth.

"I feel like I'm learning so much more from her than she is learning from me … I'm learning how to be patient, learning how to just like listen a little bit more," Williams said.

Now 10 years old, Zurri has watched the film that tells her story.

"She thinks it's cool, you know, she was on set … yelling cut, yelling action … I feel like, you know, at some point Zurri might have a future in the arts. She's extremely creative," Williams said.

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