After becoming a star attraction in Mount Dora and then making big news after a publicized legal battle, the Van Gogh Starry Night House in Mount Dora has the chance to be seen by a whole new audience.
The house will be featured in a documentary titled, “Starry Fight — A Canvas for the World,” directed by award-winning director, producer and writer Lionel Montells, a resident of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Montells said he first heard about the house during an art show in Delray when he overheard someone talking about it.
“I went to my hotel and couldn’t stop reading about it until 8 a.m.,” Montells said. “I thought it was fantastic and I thought I have to meet this woman.”
The documentary will tell the story of how the house came to be the well known and loved attraction in the quaint art community.
In 2017, homeowners Nancy Nemhauser and Lubomir Jastrzebski decided to paint their home to help their adult autistic son, who enjoyed paintings of Van Gogh’s work, find his way home if he wondered off, as he has done previously.
“In tests that we have conducted, Grant was able to articulate where he should be by asking ‘Take me to the van Gogh house, please,” Nemhauser said.
Montells said he was originally inspired by the “beautiful love story” between a mother and son that is at the core of how the Starry Night house came to be.
“Nancy is my heroine,” Montells said. “There is no one alive I admire more than her.”
One of the goals for the documentary was to extract other things that will help tell about the love Nemhauser has for her son.
He clarified one of the goals of the documentary is to raise awareness by asking and getting answers for important questions such as “what happens when an autistic child wonders off” or “what do you do if you see a lost child who may be autistic?”
But for Montells to get answers for his documentary, there is still more to shoot.
Montells said for the next step in the documentary, he will speak to experts in the key topics of this story like autism and artwork from Van Gogh asking questions like “why is the painting so important?”
“I mean I used to have a painting on my lunch box,” Montells said.
After learning about the house in January, it caused him to change his plans of moving back to Spain, his home county.
“I was going to move back to Spain in May,” Montells said. “I ran into the story in January and everything changed.”
Now, Montells has plans to move to Mount Dora later in the year.
Paul Archer, a driver for Mount Dora Tours and Transits and a Mount Dora resident, said the Starry Night House is probably the most well-known attraction in Mount Dora for visitors.
“It’s a lot of emotion,” Montells said. “To this day people come to this house to take pictures. It has become an icon, a symbol of autism and a mom’s love. It’s important to the world.”
Along with a few more interviews, Montells also is working on another large project dedicated to the home and raising awareness for autism.
Montells is working with the Lake County Museum of Art, the Mount Dora Art Council and more to paint a collage on the brick floor outside the home.
He wants to have the entire area be divided as if it was a puzzle and then have autistic children each paint one of the “puzzle pieces.”
Nemhauser repeated the sentiment that she wants the documentary to raise awareness about the struggles of autism.
“I hope to bring awareness to the public regarding the struggles relating to those with autism,” she said. “Although there may be commonalities involved, the autism spectrum (at least from this Mom’s point of view) is vast, varied and very individualized. Mr. Montells and I would like to help community members, and the public in general, to have a better understanding of the unique abilities and struggles of those on the autism spectrum. With increased public knowledge, it may be the case that the unique abilities of those on the spectrum can be facilitated by those willing to assist.”
She also expressed gratitude to those who have helped.
“The act of helping others who need help can be extraordinarily fulfilling and rewarding,” she said.
Montell said he wants the documentary to be a way for people to learn more about autism. “If I can help one child with autism because of this documentary, we did OK,” Montells said.
For more information about the documentary, visit starryfight.com.
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
