Dialogues With Madwomen

  
"I was always so afraid that someone would ask me where I was when JFK was shot, and I would have to say I was in a mental institution", says director Allie Light. This moving and informative film features seven women--including the filmmaker--describing their experiences with depression, manic depression, multiple personalities, schizophrenia, euphoria and recovery. Candid interviews are enriched with dramatic reenactments and visualizations of each woman's history, emotions and dreams--the private symbols of madness and sanity. The social dimensions of women and mental illness are revealed in testimony about sexual assault, incest, racism and homophobia, the abuses of the medical establishment, family and church. Acknowledging that "madness" is often a way of explaining women's self-expression, this film charges us to listen to the creativity and courage of survivors. Dialogues With Madwomen is a ground-breaking film about women and mental illness. The film is available from Women Make Movies.  

* Atlanta Film Festival, Grand Jury Award

* Berlin Film Festival

* Amsterdam Documentary Festival

* Sinking Creek Film Festival, Best of Festival

* POV Broadcast  
* Emmy Award, Outstanding Interview Program

* HeSCA Media Award

* Sundance Film Festival, 
  Freedom of Expression Award

* National Educational Film and Video, 
  Special Jury Award

Music by Larry Seymour
Light-Saraf Films
260 Arbor St.  San Francisco, CA 94131  415-584-3521