SIFF DocFest: Witches
October 7, 2024
Utilizing archival footage alongside insightful interviews from experts and friends, Elizabeth Sankey’s deeply personal documentary examines the relationship between the cinematic portrayals of witches and the all-too-real experiences of women experiencing postpartum depression.
Individual Tickets: Select showtime to purchase
Passes: $100 | $75 Members - Provides access to all DocFest screenings
SIFF year-round passes are not valid for DocFest screenings.
In Witches, filmmaker Sankey delves into the portrayal of witches in cinema, using her own personal experiences with motherhood and mental health as a powerful lens. Drawing on an extensive archive of film clips from classics like The Wizard of Oz and Suspiria, Sankey explores how cultural representations of witches reflect deeper societal views on women, motherhood, and mental illness. Blending personal testimony with interviews from experts and friends, the film connects current-day women’s struggles with how society and modern medicine views postpartum depression to the historical witch hunts, revealing how contemporary norms often continue to fail women. Through this intricate tapestry of magical portrayals and critical analysis, Witches serves as both a stirring feminist history lesson and a heartfelt ode to cinephiles, challenging viewers to reconsider the cultural narratives that shape our understanding of gender and power.
- Director: Elizabeth Sankey
- Principal Cast: Elizabeth Sankey, Sophia Di Martino
- Country: United Kingdom
- Year: 2024
- Running Time: 90 min.
- Producer: Manon Ardisson, Chiara Ventura, Jeremy Warmsley
- Cinematographers: Chloë Thomson
- Editors: Elizabeth Sankey
- Music: Jeremy Warmsley
- Awards: Tribeca Film Festival 2024 (Special Mention, Best New Documentary Director), Raindance 2024 (Best Documentary)
- Filmography: Romantic Comedy (2019)
- Language: English
- Format: DCP
- US Distributor: MUBI, Variance
- International Sales: MUBI