SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL'S "18 FILMS FOR YOUNG VIEWERS" | OFFICIAL SELECTION - Tribeca Film Festival 2022 | OFFICIAL SELECTION - Nova Frontier Film Festival 2022 | HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Educational Media Reviews Online
Self-injury • Suicide • First Generation • Trans Mental HealthDate of Completion: 2022 | Run Time: 15 minutes | Language: English with Spanish subtitles (Coming Soon) | Captions: Yes | Includes: Study Guide | Director: Carrie Hawks | Producers: Chelsea Moore, Leslie Fields-Cruz & Denise A. Greene
INNER WOUND REAL is an animated short documentary that relays the story of three BIPOC folks who self-injure, then find new ways to cope. Each participant’s story has its own distinct visual style. The chapters are independent puzzle pieces that together form the 15-minute film. Everyone self harms in some way, such as smoking, excessive drinking, or eating unhealthy foods, yet self-injury carries a unique stigma. While most media depictions of self-injury focus on able-bodied white cis-women, this project focuses on three individuals: an Indian cismale, a Black transgender non-binary person, and a Filipinx queer femme who all find solace in the arts. The variety of family backgrounds and identities show how this practice spans across racial, ethnic, and gendered groups.
Educational Media Reviews Online | Reviewed by Dorian Bowen, Archivist/Film Historian
"The film is a gentle yet powerful journey into a behavior that is rarely discussed openly, and it produces an emotional impression much greater than the sum of its short runtime. It is Highly Recommended."
School Library Journal | Maggie Knapp
"Counselors and educators can reinforce the film’s concluding message that one can break the cycle of self-harm, and the first step is telling a trusted person and asking for help."
Elena Guzman, PhD, Assistant Professor, African American and African Diaspora Studies and Anthropology | Indiana University Bloomington
”Inner Wound Real is a timely short film that foregrounds how BIPOC people experience self-injury and find alternative coping mechanisms. The film’s use of different animation styles take us onto a journey into each person’s testimony of self-injury and different alternatives that allow them to cope without self-injury. With the animation we are allowed to move beyond the talking head documentary and instead delve into a multisensory experience that enables us to accompany each person on their journey. We are not merely spectators but we are asked to listen and listen deeply. The non-mimetic style of animation allows us to use metaphor and symbol to delve deeper beyond words. Animation allows for worlds to open up that would not otherwise be possible with live action footage. Given how highly stigmatized mental health is in BIPOC communities, Inner Wound Real allows people to speak for themselves without judgment and in doing so open up a space of conversation between the film and its audience.”
Inner Wound Real Workshop One Sheet
*The full workshop outline will be available upon purchase
Director for Inner Wound Real and black enuf*
Carrie Hawks confronts self-imposed and external assumptions about identity in order to promote healing, particularly in relation to Blackness, gender, and queer sexuality. They work in animation, drawing, collage, sculpture, and performance, often incorporating humor. Their film black enuf* was nominated for a New York Emmy, won Best Documentary Short at Trans Stellar Film Festival, was broadcast on American Public Television’s World Channel in 2019, and screened at over 40 festivals including Ann Arbor and BlackStar. They taught Experimental Animation at Parsons and have curated programs for the Ann Arbor Film Festival and ASIFA-East.