Thursday Jan. 14 7:15 At Cinecenta

After a very supportive premiere in Victoria's Cinecenta in 1995, Hitler! went on to screen at the 1995 Poetry Film & Video Festival in San Francisco, le Nouveau Festival du Cinema/Video Montreal 1995, the 1995 London Film Festival, Vancouver's Pacific Cinematheque and Toronto's Rendezvous With Madness, 1996.

This is a completing of the circle, with Clive returning from Winnipeg to his hometown Cinecenta theatre, this time with the book and CD launch.

the book FURY - FICTIONS & FILMS fiction, Clive Holden, fall '98: FURY - FICTIONS & FILMS was released this September, and is for sale in all bookstores, published by Cyclops Press and distributed by Turnstone Press/GDS. Cyclops Press also sells direct to the public via its "secure" server, on-line store, at: http://www.cyclopspress.com/. There are also animated, graphic and audio poems on the site, short fictions and a video clip.

FURY includes a novella, several short fictions, and a graphic poem version of the 1995 film "Hitler!" with several "flip-book animation" sequences. Included is the story that resulted in the 1993 film, "Gordon's Head", which was set entirely in the Victoria suburb of Gordon Head. Both both films are about Clive's brother, Niall Holden, who has lived in Riverview Hospital for over twenty years.

the CD GORDON'S HEAD & HITLER! was released in Sept., 1998, and is for sale in all bookstores, published by Cyclops Press and distributed by Turnstone Press/GDS.

GORDON'S HEAD & HITLER! includes the spoken word soundtracks from both films, including the avant garde jazz music of Max Murphy, as well as several new performed poems by Clive Holden. GORDON'S HEAD & HITLER! was released this September.

about AN ANGEL AT MY table - the story of Janet Frame
By Jane Campion (1990 New Zealand 2hr. 40 min.) PG13

Campion beautifully portrays author Janet Frame's life, and captures the writer's inner world. Kerry Fox is riveting as the adult Janet. Scripted by Laura Jones; adapted from a four volumns of Frame's autobiographies.

Originally produced as a three-part television series. The story of a curly-haired redhead who grew up to be one of New Zealand's best authors, after enduring ordeals that would have put most people into a madhouse. The irony is that she was already in the madhouse, misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic, and subjected to more than 200 electroshock treatments even though there was nothing really wrong with her except for shyness and depression. Janet Frame is today the author of some 20 novels, books of poetry, plays, and autobiographies. The first were published while she was in a mental hospital, and it is possible to wonder if the act of writing them saved her life. (Roger Ebert)

Susan Musgrave draws on her experiences in public schools, psychiatric institutions, and maximum security penitentiaries across the country. She has published 20 books, her most recent being for children, DREAMS ARE MORE REAL THAN BATHTUBS. In 1996 she won the CBC/Tilden Canadian Literary Award for Poetry. In 1997-1998 she was Chair of the Writers' Union of Canada.

Friday Jan. 15 6:30 about Within These Walls (1996 B.C., Canada 30min.) PG The voices of those who have faced hospitalization for mental illness resonate in Within These Walls, a powerful documentary celebrating the autonomy of mental care recipients. Our society is developing an increased understanding of the complexities of what we have learned to call mental illness. Despite this, the direct concerns of mental health care recipients often go unheard. In Within These Walls a diverse group of individuals offer varying perspectives on how hospitalization, medication, diagnosis, family and community support, and housing concerns have affected their lives. Both positive transformations and difficult recollections are presented with sensitivity. Within These Walls was co-produced by mental health care recipients Jill Stainsby and her mother Mari Balfe with video makers Chris McDowell and Myriam Fougere. Jill Stainsby will attend our screening of Within These Walls and Completely and will add her reflections to our discussion. about COMPLETELY CUCKOO by Charles Kisleyak (1998 USA 87min.) PG13 Dr. Dean Brooks came to Movie Monday four years ago to present the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest which he helped to make and eventually acted in as Dr. Spivey. This spring a documentary, a really delicious documentary, was produced by Charles Kiselyak for Saul Zaentz and Pioneer Entertainment called "Completely Cuckoo". Interviews with Dr. Brooks and many others including; Michael Douglas, father Kirk, Ken Kesey, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Louise Fletcher, producer Saul Zaentz, director Milos Forman, the screen writer Bo Goldman, Oregon's governor at the time, - anybody who was anybody (except Jack), woven beautifully together - interviews with actors on set, footage from the movie and some from the cutting floor. It's toe-curlingly wonderful! It's profound and funny and a sweet look back in the history of motion pictures. It's a retrospective of the creation of a masterful work that took on a life of its own. Everyone involved is in awe of the power of this story. A copy of Completely Cuckoo was donated to Movie Monday by Dr. Brooks and when I alerted Rendezvous about it became the Gala event and the hit of that festival. That was the "Canadian Premier" so I guess our modest little theatre has to have the "Western Canadian Premier"

Saturday Jan. 16 6:30

about SYBIL (1976 USA 3hr. 18min.) PG13
The 1976 Emmy-winning television movie starring Sally Fields and Joanne Woodward in its riveting complete form. It will be presented in our theatre by the acclaimed screenwriter Stewart Stern (Rachel Rachel, Rebel Without A Cause, The Ugly American)

When we traveled to Toronto's Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival in mid November Bruce Wallace and I saw Sybil presented in itsentirety with a panel discussion with Stewart Stern and Dr. Patrick Suraci. Dr. Suaci, who knew Flora Schreiber author of the book Sybil and who met the subject of the story five years ago, became a friend and is currently publishing a biography of her. Completing the panel were Gail Fisher-Taylor, a psychotherapist and specialist in abuse, trauma and dissociation, who made a CBC Ideas radio documentary with Sybil's doctor in 1989, and psychiatrist and author Dr. Jack Birnbaum, another specialist in dissociation.

The presentation was absolutely absorbing, holding the audience from 7:30 till after midnight. With the movie, the event was a textbook layman's introduction to the much misunderstood condition, often called "multiple personality disorder", or recently more helpfully named "dissociative personality disorder". Sybil had trouble finding help in her day (during and after the 2nd World War) and it is still difficult to find understanding and effective treatment. It is apparently a condition brought on by childhood trauma and not a biologically based illness that responds to medication which modern mental illness treatment methods favour.

Sybil died recently but her legacy lives on through this story captured in the book and, (as with the genesis of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest from book to film), in another completely different and more accessable telling, in Stewart Stern's screenplay.

Stewart lives near Seattle, Wash., and as we were driving to the airport to return to our respective homes, he agreed to come to Movie Monday's theatre to do a similar presentation for only his travelling expenses. How could I not include Sybil in my premier fest?

A Brush With Life, one of our afternoon docs, has an intriguingly similar theme.

Sunday Jan. 17 6:30 about Very Nice, Very Nice (1961 Canada 7min) Arthur Lipsett's first film. It looks behind the business-as-usual face we put on life and shows anxieties we want to forget. It is made from dozens of pictures that seem familiar, with fragments of speech heard in passing and, between times, a voice saying "very nice, very nice." Lipsett was an editor who worked at NFB in the same era as Norman McLaren. He was known for his idiosyncrasies and was apparently manic depressive. Although Very Nice, Very Nice was nominated for an Oscar, his later works that were shorts of a similar style showed a darker view of the world and didn't achieve the same acclaim. He died of suicide in 1986. Rick Raxlen, who was a student and friend of Arthur Lipsett, will introduce the piece. about ANGEL BABY (1995 Australia 1hr. 45min.) R for sex, nudity, and profanity ANGEL BABY is an Australian film from 1995 that swept their equivalent of the Oscars. It tells a rarely told story about the plight of two mentally ill people who meet and fall in love. To preserve their new family they will make a decision that will put both of their lives in jeopardy. Our discussion will reflect on the implications Bill 22, the controversial amendments to B.C.'s Mental Health Act . How you protect individual freedom to choose or refuse treatment when the very illness they're suffering often critically affects their insight and judgement? (Read a review)

Monday Jan. 18 6:30

about No Problem (1992 Canada 12 min 42 sec)
In this animation film, a not-so-young bachelor is facing yet another lonely, rain-sodden Saturday. His psyche is not in the best of shape, neurosis is fast setting in, and he has reached "Zolga," the last entry in his little black book. We also see too clearly the struggle between his more base and intellectual selves. (Warning: full frontal cartoon nudity)

about The Geometry of Beware (1997 Canada 6min 40sec )
Victorian Rick Raxlen developed this short animated film from a shorter piece, a 1 min. yellowing black and white segment from 1926 Mutt and Jeff cartoon found on a second hand projector. Using those images, a myriad of manipulations and printing techniques and a catchy soundtrack and Rick's got a little film that's "got legs". (Best of Northwest Film Fest in Portland this fall)

about STUART SAVES HIS FAMILY (1995 USA 95 min)
We end our five day journey through the film world of mental illness and recovery with this MM favourite. A warm-hearted, insightful comedy. Saturday Night Live character, the relentlessly positive Stuart Smalley (Al Franken), has a whole movie to work his magic on himself and his dysfunctional family. Make this a big night out for your support group! PG
(Read Bruce's lengthy review of this movie)

The afternoon docs........

Friday Jan 15 3:15pm about A Brush With Life - (1994 Canada 47min.) If I create I constantly overcome the difficulties of everyday life. It's something essential to the being - to be creative. What is in self destruction if it's not the lack of confidence in youself and the lack of confidence in life in general. - Diane A Brush With Life is a compelling and powerful portrait of Diane, a gifted artist struggling to free herself from mental illness through her art. The film, co-directed by Martin Duckworth and Glen Salzman, was shot over a two year period at Montreal's largest psychiatric hospital where and innovative art therapy studio was established for a small number of patients. For Diane, the studio was a door leading out of hell. The year she spent painting there dramatically changed her life. Diane discovered a way to liberate her inner self, to deal with a multiple personality disorder brought on by a childhood of abuse. The ebb-and-flow of Diane's struggle invites the viewer to question his or her own insight into the delicate balance of the human condition. With haunting images and empathy, A Brush With Life is a moving portrait of an exceptional individual's search for well-being. Diane's struggle with dissociative personality disorder relates closely to Sybil's story which we will be exploring on Jan. 16 at 6:30 with Sybil.

Saturday Jan. 16 2pm

about Kuper Island: Return To The Healing Circle (1997 Canada 50 min)
An example of documentary film making that is changing our world. Kuper Island explores the experience of Native people who as children were compelled into the residential schools on our West Coast. It is a story of survival in the aftermath of social disruption, systemic betrayal, and cruelty. Victoria filmmakers Peter Campbel and Christine Welsh portray as well the healing process that is helping the survivors of this dark period in our history to move on.
Christine Welsh will attend the discussion.

Sunday Jan. 17 2pm about Complaints Of A Dutiful Daughter (1994 USA 43 min.) One of the issues for those caring for someone with Alzheimer's Disease (or any chronic illness) is "How can I put my loved one into a daycare or care facility when I promised to look after them till the end?" Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter addresses that question in a very direct way, through one woman's own experience. The film maker uses love and compassion in finding her mother a good home. She uses inventive story telling devices and a surprising amount of humour in telling us the story through film. It's an increasingly common and wracking dilemma for many in our aging population. This film offers some invaluable insights. The discussion that follows the screening will include Alzheimers caregivers and supporters.