Iain Cunningham's documentary IRENE'S GHOST, charts his personal search to find out about his mother, Irene, who died when he was just three years old.
Iain was just three years old when his mother Irene died. His Dad never spoke about it and his family’s silence around her meant she existed only in Iain’s imagination. Decades later and inspired by the birth of his own daughter, director Iain Cunningham sets out to discover who Irene was.
With his reticent father struggling to share the details, Iain begins knocking on doors and sifting through old photographs, leading him down a winding path of long-lost relatives and contradictory tales. Through the stories told by Irene’s old friends, Cunningham carefully pieces together fragments of the past to build a portrait of Irene.
The culmination of his search leads him to discover that Irene suffered from postpartum psychosis, a severe form of mental illness that occurs after having a baby. What began as a meditation on memory and identity, becomes a study of the ways in which families deal with trauma, and the importance of the connections we make and keep.
IRENE'S GHOST will be touring UK cinemas from 3rd May 2019
IRENE'S GHOST will be screening at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival on the 4th May 2019.
For a full list of screening visit http://irenesghost.com/screenings
