For "Beautiful Son," well-known ocean cinematographer Don King and his wife, film producer Julianne King, who live in Kailua, turned the camera on themselves and their family to chronicle their experience in the world of autism. Their son Beau, a towheaded 6-year-old (and very much beautiful), is autistic.

Before the film, producer Charlotte Lagarde praised the Kings for their brave act, saying it is not easy to bare one's soul for the camera.

The film opens with a pregnant Julianne King luxuriating in the blue water of an O'ahu beach, her face serene with pending motherhood. From this paradisical image and snippets of family video showing proud parents with their lively boy, the story spirals to one of despair and frustration.

At the age of 2, Beau was just like any other toddler, then soon started showing signs of disconnecting from the world. His language capacity slowed and disintegrated.

In a campaign to "get their son back," the Kings visit specialists on the Mainland and attend conferences on autism. The film explores the connection between mercury and autism, Julianne King's lobbying in the Legislature to have mercury-containing childhood vaccines banned from Hawai'i (Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed the bill), and a treatment called chelation, which shows promise in fighting autism.

The journey is a harrowing one, but the film ends with hope.

After the film, the Kings brought Beau and Dane, two of their three sons, in front of the audience. Beau said sweetly into the microphone, "Hello. Thank you for coming." There probably wasn't a dry eye in the audience.

"Beautiful Son" will screen again at noon on Oct. 24 at Regal Dole Cannery Cinemas. It will also air on PBS in April 2008, and a DVD is forthcoming.