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1995 David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award Nominees

By IDA Editorial Staff


A man looks at a distorted reflection of himself in the mirror.

OUT OF MY MIND

Producer and Director : Katie Cadigan
Distributor: Filmakers' Library

This remarkable first-person account of schizophrenia focuses on the filmmaker's younger brother, John, a promising artist whose college career was halted by the onset of severe mental illness. After developing symptoms of schizophrenia during his senior year, John came to live with Katie Cadigan and her husband. Out of My Mind explores the ongoing nature of John's paranoia, his experience with various therapies, and the family love that sustained him through multiple crises. It sheds light on the terribly misunderstood and stigmatized world of mental illness, sensitively revealing both what it is like to live with someone who has schizophrenia and the struggle of the individual to learn how to live with the disease and the label it imposes.

Katie Cadigan (Producer/Director) is a 1995 graduate of the documentary film program at Stanford University.

Before entering filmmaking, Cadigan worked in marketing and public relations in the Silicon Valley, CA, but became dissatisfied with her career and began to look for a way to contribute something to society. Out of My Mind is her master's degree project. Cadigan also holds a bachelor's degree from Brown University.

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