The adage that art imitates life often means that to watch a film is to look into a mirror. What we see in a film can be a reflection of ourselves and what’s going on in our lives, and we appreciate the ability to relate. This relationship is explored in depth in Elizabeth Sankey’s documentary Witches. This film essay is the director’s testimony about her devastating bout with postpartum depression and is a commentary on the comparison between women, witches, and madness, told through a combination of over a hundred film and TV clips and interwoven interviews.
Throughout the film, every type of portrayal of witches and madwomen is included, from The Wizard of Oz (1939) to Jane Eyre (1943) to Bewitched (1964–1972) to The Witches of Eastwick (1987). But it’s not sacred to specific kinds of films. She occasionally utilizes film clips that don’t even have witches in them to illustrate her points. And while the film shows Sankey eventually being able to move forward, not everyone comes away unscathed, as the film includes discussions of tragedies like the Dr. Daksha Emson case.
Witches is a candid and creative video essay that breaks down Sankey’s own personal struggles and demons as they tie into what she grew up watching. She also tackles the complexities of stigma, shame, and guilt that come with mental illness in the context of women’s history and motherhood, with nuance and input from a range of voices. It is an excellent example of film illustrating feelings, and there’s much to appreciate from this honest take. Five stars, would recommend.
What library patrons would find value in attending a screening of this postpartum documentary?
There are two primary groups who would find equal benefit in watching Witches as part of public library programming. The first are those struggling with postpartum depression and related mental illnesses, who might find something to identify with and find comfort in through Sankey’s story and the testimonies of those she interviews. The second group are classic and contemporary movie lovers who will enjoy the exorbitant use of films to represent Sankey’s narrative.
In which academic environments could Witches be shown to students?
There are a variety of reasons why and course subject areas where academic librarians and educators teaching with film would find this documentary useful. The recurring theme of the injustices and violence inflicted upon so-called witches would fit with a unit on the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600s in a gender history or American history course.
Witches might also be educational for aspiring healthcare professionals, as it deals with postpartum psychosis, mental illness, manic and bipolar disorders, and suicide. Viewers may glean insight from the testimonies given by interviewees on the minimizing and dismissal by doctors of their physical pain, particularly experienced by women of color due to racist assumptions about pain tolerance.
Though not a traditional film about films, the clips are used as a crucial narrative device to relay the director’s experiences, and a film history course can use this different take to discuss alternate filmmaking methods.
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