*Short Film by me.
‘WORDFOOD’
This film contains strong language and scenes unsuitable for young children. Please send your little ones out of the room!
Also, it may be triggering for some. Please try to be kind to yourself after viewing.
About Wordfood: I wrote, directed and narrated this short film in 2004. It’s a subject I am passionately concerned about – the effects of abuse in childhood on mental health. Themes explored are – emotional and verbal abuse, self-injury, dissociation, suicide attempts, hospitilization, diagnoses and labelling. (I concentrated on verbal/emotional abuse as I had just a ten minute time frame, but all forms of abuse have a deep and lasting effect on a person’s emotional well-being and mental health.)
The film can also be viewed on the following site, along with a selection of other films with mental health themes. http://www.inspired-stories.tv/ This site is dependent on maintaining funding, so it may not be up forever but until then enjoy the films!
And also at filmmakingstories on YouTube, which is in the process of adding more mental health themed films to the channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/filmmakingstories
Wordfood was made with Flexible Films (http://www.flexiblefilms.co.uk/) and Inspirational Filmworks. Thank you to all the amazing and lovely people listed in the end credits - wouldn’t have been possible without them. xxx 
Jul 05, 2010 @ 21:06:58
I hardly know what to say. So powerful, and so scarily true.
You should be very proud of this hun. I hope many, many people will see it.
<3 xxx
Jul 05, 2010 @ 22:01:17
Thank you hun really appreciate your lovely comment and for tweeting and facebooking it also! I would love for lots more people to get the opportunity to make their own films too, get their stories heard. Hugs to you
xx
Jul 05, 2010 @ 21:35:03
Wow. I’m not laughing that’s for sure – incredibly powerful. They should show this to all mh professionals, having said that they may need to provide the tissues (it made me cry and I never cry at movies…)
Take care,
Differently
Jul 05, 2010 @ 21:43:18
Thank you so much Differently, means a lot to receive your comment. This filmaking project was set up by my local NHS mental health trust – and I think it’s something that should be available to service users nationally. Telling your own personal story in any form, film, prose, paintings etc really helps and is a powerful healer. You take care too, and thanks again
x
Jul 05, 2010 @ 22:34:56
This is amazing, very powerful and moving. Have you shared it with mental health/children’s organisations? x
Jul 05, 2010 @ 22:49:31
Thank you, lovely of you to comment! It’s been shared it to small extent in mental health area, but haven’t really shared it with any childrens organisations – not really sure how to go about it! There are a few childrens orgs that work in the field of abuse that I admire that I could possibly send to, but afraid of appearing brash and pushy just sending stuff! – Maybe I need to get over that!!
x
Thanks again,
Jul 11, 2010 @ 10:46:00
This is amazing and you are amazing. Like differentlysane, I too have cried and never cry. Am immensely moved and blown away by how powerful this message is.
xx
Jul 11, 2010 @ 14:41:29
Thank you lots hun, it really means a lot to read your lovely comment. Really appreciated so much, thank you for watching.
Hugs xxx
Jul 14, 2010 @ 13:15:31
An absolute masterpiece – you’ve captured the awfulness of abuse and its long-term effects. Stumbled upon this via your retweet on Space (Cocoon Nebula), leading to your blog. Curiosity pulled me down the page and then this video. Was not expecting an emotion-burst. Felt the tears welling up. Excellent metaphor, using the doll to superimpose suffering; worked powerfully. I recognized plenty in this, although my childhood was laid waste to by a disastrous, non-stop, 8 to 18 at school, not at home (home merely played a starring role in being utterly ineffective and making things much worse). Your video shows the pain and empty, lonely, sadness of it then, in childhood, but also depicts so well, the damage to the later adult – the double whammy of the way it lobotomises the child’s future, adult persona (away from what would have been, but for the abuse), sort of like a plane in perpetual tailspin, with the pilot trying to keep the nose up and maintain a flightpath. Anyway Magicplum, compelling, super work done with sensitivity and insight – should be part of TV campaign!!
Take care,
Vin
Jul 14, 2010 @ 18:44:00
Hello Vin, and thank you so much for your words here – You really put it so well, especially the plane analogy – it really can do that to your life, leave you with that kind of feeling. And I’m sorry you also did not have the kind of childhood you would have wished for. I really appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment, thanks again. x
Aug 17, 2010 @ 18:56:02
Well done! That’s a really beautiful and powerful film. It’s frightening how common it is to see and hear kids being emotionally abused by their parents in public.
Aug 17, 2010 @ 19:09:51
Thank you! Really kind of you to comment. You’re right, i see and hear it often too, is really sad.
x
Aug 23, 2010 @ 09:32:09
Wow. That was so painful to watch but I was determined to get through it all without breaking down. I’m speechless I really don’t know what to say. Thank you for making this.
x
Aug 23, 2010 @ 09:47:06
Thank you Simone, I really appreciate you commenting on this. I hope you are ok after watching. Was good to meet you on Saturday – the day flew by all too quickly and didn’t get to chat with everyone as much as would have liked!! Was lots of fun though!! Take care,
x
Maria
Oct 11, 2010 @ 00:25:03
This is really brilliant! In fact, so is the whole blog and I shall certainly read you regularly. I came across you via a link from Pan quoted in the weekly blog roundup in Mental Nurse http://www.mentalnurse.org
In your reply to mindinflux you mention a fear of appearing brash or pushy – you certainly don’t appear that way to me. Keep up the good work!
M
Oct 11, 2010 @ 06:15:58
Thank you very much Michael, I really appreciate your comment! Lately I haven’t been writing very much – head in an odd place – hence most posts have been artwork for a while. Hoping to shake out of this soon!
Thanks again,
take care,
Maria
Mar 19, 2011 @ 04:13:56
Powerful, indeed. Thanks for spreading such an important message.
As a parent, I feel it very deeply. It makes me want to reach out and protect every child who has had to face this.
Mar 19, 2011 @ 12:09:45
Thank you Martha!
x