39 lbs of love…

39 Pounds of Love is the inspirational and humorous non-fiction account of a remarkable man and a remarkable journey. At birth, Ami Ankilewitz was diagnosed with an extremely rare and often fatal form of muscular dystrophy, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) that severely limits his physical growth and movement.A doctor told his mother Helena that he would not live beyond the age of six. She refused to believe him. On his 34th birthday in Tel Aviv, Israel, Ami announces that he wants to take a trip to America and fulfil some of his dreams: First, to travel across America in a van. Second, to ride a Harley Davidson motorcycle. And third, to find the doctor whose prediction of how long he would live turned out to be false.
Ami’s mother is very anxious that the arduous journey would have an adverse effect on his health. But her son, who weighs 39 pounds, has a fourth reason for taking the trip: he wants to get his mind off the fact that Christina, his pretty 21-year old Romanian caretaker, has left him after two years of looking after him. Ami, whose bodily motion is limited to a single figure on his left had, has tried to express what this relationship meant to him in a 3D animated film.
Accompanied by his best friend Asafa and film director Dani Menkin’s documentary crew, Ami arrives in Los Angeles to begin his journey. While visiting the Grand Canyon, Ami has trouble breathing and there is a minor medical emergency. They make a special trip to Texas where he reconciles with his brother Oscar who felt left out of his mother’s affection since she gave so much of her time and energy to Ami. Thanks to Asafa, she arrives for a family reunion. And after a little detective work, the team finds the sought after doctor living in Miami.
Today, Ami, who weighs only 39 pounds, works in Israel as a 3D animator and creates his art despite the fact that his bodily motion is limited to a single finger on his left hand and in doing so, continues to redefine notions of a “limited” life.