Dear Ana - a short film about anorexia

Описание: Dear Ana - A Short film about the psychological state of those suffering with Eating disorders.

SYNOPSIS

To eat or not to eat? A seemingly simple question, but to Alice a 21 year old girl, suffering at the hands of anorexia, this one small decision changes everything. Living her torment through her own imagined world, Alice finds herself at a mysterious banquet table in the company of two strange but intriguing women who both attempt to seduce her with their ideas of happiness. Gluttony and starvation both have dire repercussions, but with no other choice, Alice must decide.

WHO IS THE DIRECTOR?

My name is Kayleigh Rhian Carroll, I'm an independent film director and I graduated from Farnham University of the Creative Arts with this as my final graduation film. This film is very personal to me as it comes from my younger sister suffering with anorexia. I found out about her disorder after discovering her 'Thinspiration' diary which was full of images of skeletal models to aspire to, hints and tips on how to starve yourself and how to hide it from your family and friends, but worst of all letters from a women named Ana telling my sister what a hideous fat cow she is, how she will never amount to anything and how starving herself to perfection is the only way she will ever be truly happy. After approaching my sister about the diary, she showed me a whole world I never knew existed – the anorexic world. Everything from the diary came from a range of online websites, blogs and forums, a huge percentage of them promoting anorexia as a lifestyle choice not a disease, and 'Ana' (the personification of anorexia) being the leader.


As well as my sister, a good friend of mine has suffered with anorexia to the extreme and has been kind enough to open up to me about her experiences. These two stories inspired me to make this film and raise awareness about an mental illness affecting some many of our loved ones. Seeing a loved one suffer is hard, and through my film I want to speak out to anyone who can relate, and let them know that they aren't alone. (2011)

(2023) A long time after making this film I was able to see how this was also about my own complicated feelings with body image and weight, and in hindsight, I could also see how making this film has acted as art therapy and healed something in me on this topic. This was probably the first moment I realised how important art therapy and healing through creativity could be.