ITALIAN PREMIERE at the MESSINA FILM FESTIVAL. - Sala Laudano 6th December 2024
A screen adaptation of one section of the opera: "BRAINLAND"- A DARK TALE FROM THE HISTORY OF 20TH CENTURY NEUROSCIENCE.
Filmed at the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret Museum
London 1935 Lisbon. Renowned Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz visits psychiatrist Sobral Cid, hoping to convince him to use his patients as subjects for a new experimental treatment: frontal leucotomy. Initially hesitant, Cid agrees. After the first procedure is carried out, Moniz's excitement is soon tempered by an attempt on his life.
The story draws from real events and imagines an undocumented conversation that might have taken place between Cid and Moniz. At the time most people with severe psychosis were admitted to institutions where, in the absence of effective treatments, they were likely to remain trapped in their own troubled world. After this first procedure in 1935, Moniz went on to supervise many similar operations, claiming it was to ease his patients' suffering.
This film is a cinematic adaptation of a scene from Brainland, a chamber opera that explores three pivotal moments in the history of 20th-century neuroscience. Each episode highlights complex ethical dilemmas in clinical practice. In this scene, the central issue is the balance between harm and healing, between the ambition of the physician and the well-being of the patient.
The libretto is the result of historical research and the collaboration of three clinician-artists: a neuropsychiatrist, a neurologist, and a general practitioner. The composer, a former neuropsychiatrist, makes his operatic debut here, working with a cast of both professional and amateur performers.
Cast:
Egas Moniz - Jodie Anne Bailey.
Sobral Cid - Hester Dart
Almeida Lima - Leo Selleck
Patients: Catherine Croft Susan Geeson Marlene Hell Angie Herzberg Martha Kent Spyridoula Papandreou Suzanne Tarlin Alessandro Lupo Venzo
Director - Chiara D'Anna
Choreographer - Adrian Look
Music composed by Stephen Brown
Libretto by Andrew Platman, Ken Barrett, and Heather Angus-Leppan Research
Research & Design by Ken Barrett
Costumes - Francesca Prizzon and Sally Barrett
Sound recordist - Luke Scott
Videography - Aaron Compton
Editor - Chiara D'Anna
Executive producers - Heather Angus-Leppan, Stephen Brown, Andrew Platman, Tim Taylor Producer - Ken Barrett
With special thanks to: Dr Monica A. Walker and Sarah Corn of the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, London.
Michalis Angelakis and Luke Scott of Morley College, London.
www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
www.morleycollege.ac.uk
ITALIAN PREMIERE at the MESSINA FILM FESTIVAL. - Sala Laudano 6th December 2024
A screen adaptation of one section of the opera: "BRAINLAND"- A DARK TALE FROM THE HISTORY OF 20TH CENTURY NEUROSCIENCE.
Filmed at the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret Museum
London 1935 Lisbon. Renowned Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz visits psychiatrist Sobral Cid, hoping to convince him to use his patients as subjects for a new experimental treatment: frontal leucotomy. Initially hesitant, Cid agrees. After the first procedure is carried out, Moniz's excitement is soon tempered by an attempt on his life.
The story draws from real events and imagines an undocumented conversation that might have taken place between Cid and Moniz. At the time most people with severe psychosis were admitted to institutions where, in the absence of effective treatments, they were likely to remain trapped in their own troubled world. After this first procedure in 1935, Moniz went on to supervise many similar operations, claiming it was to ease his patients' suffering.
This film is a cinematic adaptation of a scene from Brainland, a chamber opera that explores three pivotal moments in the history of 20th-century neuroscience. Each episode highlights complex ethical dilemmas in clinical practice. In this scene, the central issue is the balance between harm and healing, between the ambition of the physician and the well-being of the patient.
The libretto is the result of historical research and the collaboration of three clinician-artists: a neuropsychiatrist, a neurologist, and a general practitioner. The composer, a former neuropsychiatrist, makes his operatic debut here, working with a cast of both professional and amateur performers.
Cast:
Egas Moniz - Jodie Anne Bailey.
Sobral Cid - Hester Dart
Almeida Lima - Leo Selleck
Patients: Catherine Croft Susan Geeson Marlene Hell Angie Herzberg Martha Kent Spyridoula Papandreou Suzanne Tarlin Alessandro Lupo Venzo
Director - Chiara D'Anna
Choreographer - Adrian Look
Music composed by Stephen Brown
Libretto by Andrew Platman, Ken Barrett, and Heather Angus-Leppan Research
Research & Design by Ken Barrett
Costumes - Francesca Prizzon and Sally Barrett
Sound recordist - Luke Scott
Videography - Aaron Compton
Editor - Chiara D'Anna
Executive producers - Heather Angus-Leppan, Stephen Brown, Andrew Platman, Tim Taylor Producer - Ken Barrett
With special thanks to: Dr Monica A. Walker and Sarah Corn of the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, London.
Michalis Angelakis and Luke Scott of Morley College, London.
www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
www.morleycollege.ac.uk
