Time for another update from Psyche’s Cinema – August 2024!
“The aim of individuation is nothing less than to divest the self of the false wrappings of the persona on the one hand, and of the suggestive power of primordial images on the other.”
Carl Jung, C.W. Vol. 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology
My Persona and Bell’s Palsy
Dear subscribers, friends, supporters,
Sorry it’s taken me a long time to say hello and to share a NEW film!
I’ve been in recovery from a long lasting case of Bell’s Palsy. (Bell’s Palsy is a rare ailment – an episode of facial paralysis caused by damage to the nerve.) For over three months I had no movement on the right side of my face. The paralysis happened when my husband and I were on the trip of a lifetime, in Greece.
It’s been almost 5 months. I’m grateful to report that both my smile and my speech are coming back – slowly.
Delphi, GreeceOne of the many images of Medusa that caught my attention. This is from the first day of our tour.
But it continues to be a hard path. Bell’s Palsy isn’t life-threatening – except for one’s persona. Having clear, articulate speech and smiling a lot was central to how I knew myself. BP took those away.
From the start I saw this ailment as full of symbolism and synchronicities. Being true to my passion for transpersonal psychology, I’ve been exploring many possible meanings of my paralysis: a dissolving of my persona? Two sides of my face reflecting the splits in my psyche? An encounter with an inner Medusa and the Death Mother? (I found this fantastic article by Marion Woodman on this painful inner reality.)
There were other uncanny synchronicities related to family and ancestors.
1Ironically I created this image shortly before our trip. I was exploring the idea of persona.
When we analyse the persona we strip off the mask, and discover that what seemed to be individual is at bottom collective; in other words, that the persona was only a mask for the collective psyche ~Carl Jung, CW 7, Para 246
With less clear speech I wasn’t able to work. That meant I had more time for my two creative projects – our newly completed fairy tale film and a feature screenplay, “Invisible.” It’s been exciting to have uninterrupted time. I’m grateful to work on longer mythic feature scripts alongside short form filmmaking.
Rose Red and Snow White discover a clear cut forest.Snow White is nervous about the bear!
Ironically, I also began exploring free AI tools that allowed me to experiment with my dolls being able to talk. My dolls were moving their mouths for the first time, while I could not. Strange times! I continue to experiment with the best way to tell these stories, using an extremely limited budget.
New Film! Snow White, Red Rose, and the Little Capitalist (Previous working title- Berserk)
I’ve been working as a theatre director, playwright, screenwriting for decades but I’m self-taught as a filmmaker. I’m always working to get better at the technical elements. Each film teaches me more about how to use green screens, special effects, and now, experimenting with moving mouths. My films will never be perfect. But I’m told this is part of their charm?
In terms of storytelling – my goals are always to modernize, find humor, and explore the psychological symbols in these tales. Our film playfully tweaks the locations of the original tale but the plot points are the same. Now, instead of a greedy “dwarf,” I’ve cast a greedy little capitalist.
In the original story, the Dwarf is verbally aggressive. He berates the women and insults them. Marie Louise Von Franz, in “The Feminine in Fairy Tales” explores this character as a negative part of a psyche, the part that bullies and is cruel to us.
In our film, I’ve had fun with the insults, and just as the Grimm tale reflects life in Germany (Von Franz also discusses these connections to the story), our adaptation explores economic/political tensions in the character of the “little man.”
The one-sidedly feminine world, where everything is so gentle and rosy and nobody quarrels, needs the bear…….A woman who wakes up after being too passive, too feminine, faces the possibility of being too aggressive. But no one hits the bull’s-eye the first time; it takes practice, and the fact that she at first shoots wide of the mark accounts for the many typical exaggerations, when too little or too much aggression and insufficient adaptation are replaced by outbursts of affect…… The dwarf who entangles himself is an image of the negative animus in woman, who is, however, in the story eliminated by the bear, the positive animus. – The Feminine in Fairy Tales, Marie Louise Von Franz
Watching this film (and all Psyches Cinema films) in a small group is a great way to explore the dream-like symbols of these fairy tales. Like dream-work, our fairy tale films welcome multiple viewings and discussions. Inner work and active imagination offer endless opportunities to find the living water of the Self. I’ve included more information from Von Franz and some discussion questions on the film’s page.
But mostly our films are meant to entertain! All ages can enjoy them. Like a dream, fairy tales can work on us without our awareness. I hope you enjoy our playful adaptation. You may not agree with all my changes but hopefully this brand new film will intrigue and delight.
Live Screenings – “Reflections” at Hope Academy, Chicago, Mental Filmness Film Festival
Mental Filmness is a Chicago-based film festival showcasing films about mental health. The festival is dedicated to breaking the stigma surrounding mental health by sharing stories and promoting empathy for those who live with a chronic mental health disorder or those who have experienced a mental health issue.
I’m thrilled that I’ll be able to attend the film block dedicated to Chicago filmmakers on October 10th. They’ll be a Q and A after the films.
The 2024 Mental Filmness Film Festival will be a hybrid festival. Live screenings will be Thursday, October 10th, World Mental Health Day, through Saturday, October 12th, at Hope Academy in Chicago. Get your free tickets here!
Phone Gal will be screening on November 8-10 at the Revolution Me Film Festival in Brooklyn!
Thank you for your support.
Thank you for watching our films. Thank you for leaving comments on the website! Please share this newsletter and our films with anyone you know who who is interested in Jungian psychology, innerwork, imagination, and subversive homemade art.
Psyches Cinema August 2024 Art and Recovery
Carl Jung named this part of our psyche after the mask that Greek actors wore to perform. ↩︎
Filming Snow White, Rose Red, and the Little Capitalist ↩︎
Title Page, my feature screenplay – numerous rewrites help me find the mythic core of the story. ↩︎
