Dialogues with Madwomen

"Female lunatics are less susceptible to control than males. They are more troublesome, more noisy, and more abusive in their language," an observer wrote in 1860. In the 1990's they are also more articulate in their suffering and their joy. Dialogues With Madwomen tells the story of seven women who have experienced the dark side of the imagination: multiple personalities, manic depression, schizophrenia. In a film about the personal symbols of madness and well-being, the process of shooting a film itself is a metaphor for the individual processes of discovery and revelation. The film-maker is one of the people involved. By means of unconventional documentary techniques memories, dreams and fantasies are made visible. Allie Light and Irving Saraf won the Oscar for best documentary in 1991 with In the Shadow of the Stars. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)