Out of Shadow



Out of the Shadow


The Documentary
Sunday, August 13 at Noon

Immediately followed by:
A Panel Discussion
On Out of the Shadow
(Start time is approximately 12:57 p.m. Sunday, August 13)

Filmed over five years, Out of the Shadow chronicles the filmmaker’s mother, Millie, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. The documentary captures Millie's rational, warm and funny side, as well as her chilling episodes of hostility and delusion. With grace and compassion, this intimate film illustrates the painful complexities of severe mental illness and the inadequate public health system set up to deal with it. A story of madness and dignity, shame and love, Out of the Shadow exposes a national plight through one family’s decades-long struggle, and seeks to dispel the stigmas and misconceptions surrounding this harrowing brain disorder.

Mental illness affects an estimated 22.1 percent of Americans ages 18 and older. About one in five adults suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. That translates to 44.3 million people, with about 2.2 million people living with schizophrenia.

The documentary, Out of the Shadow, was produced by Vine Street Pictures in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and distributed by American Public Television. Funding for this documentary was provided, in part, by the David C. and Lura M. Lovell Foundation, Pfizer, Aetna Behavioral Health and Janssen L.P.

Learn More About the Documentary

Aetna Behavioral Health/CPTV Panel Discussion
A Connecting Our Communities Initiative
Recorded June 8, 2006 at the CPTV Studio in Hartford, Connecticut

Jennifer Smith Turner, moderator; former deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development
John W. Rowe, M.D., executive chairman, Aetna Inc.
Harold I. Schwartz, M.D., psychiatrist-in-chief, vice president for behavioral health, Institute of Living, Hartford, Connecticut
Susan Smiley, director and producer of Out of the Shadow

The panel discussion includes five sections: an introduction by Jennifer Smith Turner; a discussion of the key themes of the film; a discussion on the state of our mental health system; hope for recovery from mental illness; and closing remarks by Jennifer Smith Turner.