The documentary is screening at Broadway on Monday.
Irene’s Ghost tells a universally affecting story about family, mental health and the bonds of love and friendship, while movingly rebuilding a lost life, using a mixture of animation and filmed footage.
The film tells the story of Iain’s search for information about his mother, Irene, who passed away when he was a young child, and became something of a family secret. Decades later and inspired by the birth of his own daughter, director Iain Cunningham sets out to discover the truth about what happened.
As he pieces together the story, he encounters long-lost relatives and Irene’s best friend Lynn, and gradually gets to know his mother through the stories they tell, about life in Nuneaton in the 1970s, factory work and living for nights out at the Co-op Hall and holidays. As the film builds to a close, conversations within the family begin to open up, and details of Irene’s postnatal mental illness begin to emerge.
Irene’s Ghost has been developed and produced with the support of the BFI (awarding funds from the National Lottery) with additional finance from Creative England, Screen Scotland, Wellcome and The Maudsley Charity.
The documentary will screen at Broadway Cinema on Monday 22 July at 6.00pm, and will be followed by a Q&A discussion with director, Iain Cunningham and Eve Canavan, who was cared for in Nottingham Mother and Baby Unit after experiencing postpartum psychosis.
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