Out of the Shadow

Synopsis

This personal documentary follows the filmmaker’s mother, Millie, and her family, in Millie’s battle with schizophrenia, and her trials and tribulations with the public health system. Millie was a single mother of 25, with two small children, when she first experienced the symptoms of schizophrenia. As paranoid delusions took over her mind, the family’s ignorance and shame kept Millie’s behaviour shrouded in a veil of secrecy. The filmmaker, Susan, and her sister Tina lived their childhood through the bewildering prism of their mother’s illness.

When the girls were old enough to leave home, Millie’s life unraveled completely and she was plunged into the complex and confusing world of the state mental health system. Caught in a seemingly endless cycle of transient housing, changing medications, new doctors and social workers, Millie was lost to her family for 20 years. Now she finally has a chance to reclaim her life, but it will take a power of mind and determination that has previously seemed impossible.

This brave film, shot by Millie’s daughter, uses a raw and personal verité style as Susan explores her family’s darkest secret and tries to determine who her mother has become. It reveals a family’s haunting journey, as each family member is forced to confront the fear and stigma associated with this harrowing illness before experiencing the healing they all desperately crave for.

Throwing light on a national plight through one family’s struggle, the film ultimately addresses our universal need to make sense of our past and find the way to forgiveness.

Language

English

Country

United States

Year of release

2007

Year of production

2006

Documentation

Extensive further material available on http://www.outoftheshadow.com/

Subjects

Psychiatry; Social welfare; Mental Health and Counselling

Keywords

mental illness; schizophrenia

Online availability

URI

http://www.psychiatry24x7.com/bgdisplay.jhtml?itemname=movie_outoftheshadow_trailor&_requestid=6256849

Price

free

Delivery

Streamed/Download

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£45.00 (Uniview)

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

57 minutes

Year

2008

Production Company

Name

Outoftheshadow.com

Web

http://www.outoftheshadow.com External site opens in new window

Distributor

Name

Psychiatry24x7.com

Web

http://www.psychiatry24x7.com/ External site opens in new window

Name

Uniview Worldwide

Email

sales@uniview.co.uk

Web

http://www.uniview.co.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

0151 648 9988

Address

PO Box 20
Hoylake
Wirral
CH48 7HY

Notes

NB. Uniview ceased trading at the end of July 2016. Some of the products previously distributed by them are available from Short Cuts TV: http://www.shortcutstv.com/