Someone I know is creating a documentary film about her journey recovering from childhood trauma and needs our help finishing it. There are layers and layers of creativity that are used for healing. First, she is transforming her father’s artwork with the help of a community of artists (37 and counting). This process itself is an incredible act of love and healing for the filmmaker and the artists themselves. Then, the works will be displayed in a gallery and the whole process is being documented through this film. I’m sure that those of us who watch the film will be transformed as well. It’s an epic act of communal healing and transformation.
Here is the official film synopsis:
Filmmaker Sarah Hanssen finds herself in possession of her deceased father’s abstract expressionist paintings. Growing up in his studio, surrounded by the smells of gin and turpentine, ever-shifting canvases, and a string of young girlfriends, the works contain mixed messages of obsession, secrets, freedom, and selfishness. Something doesn’t feel right about displaying these paintings around her home anymore, as if they are haunted objects, holding her back. After a lifetime of suppression, the time has come to confront the secret of sexual abuse. The filmmaker embarks on a journey to paint in what is missing: the tortured artist, nude women, cigarettes, ashtrays, beer cans, gin bottles, various pets, raucous house guests, and herself. The project soon expands to involve collaborations with additional artists, revelations about other women still affected by their relationship with her father, and the destruction of a devastating mythology and healing through collaborative creative expression. Many of these individuals are sharing their own experiences with trauma along the way.
Disclosure: I was interviewed for the film but otherwise have no stake in the film.