I AM NORMAL
The doors are closed. There are no more screenings of this film.
Synopsis: A sane woman fakes the symptoms of a mentally unstable patient in order to be admitted into a mental institution for a secret psychiatric experiment.
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Starring
Saul Rubinek (ROSENHAN)
Susan Moore Harmon (NURSE FERGUSON)
Anya Bay (NANCY)
Chopper Bernet (DR LARSEN)
Alexander Karavay (DAVID)
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Edited by
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Director's Statement
Our well-being is only as good as our mental health. Being treated a certain way translates to a person seeing themselves that way. So we should not be quick to judge or put labels on anyone. That’s one of the main themes in “I Am Normal.” We wanted to explore it through a heartwarming friendship story similar to the one in “Girl’s Interrupted,” but with a disturbing borderline insanity theme of “The Shudder Island.” The biggest challenge was to exercise sensitivity and subtlety. We had to make sure the story did not feel advantageous of mental health illnesses but did get across the severity of the situation.
Director's Bio
Inspired by the Soviet Propaganda and Siberian Fairy Tales, Olia Oparina writes and directs stories that explore primal emotions and tap into the human psyche. As a multi-linguist (Russian, Mandarin Chinese) with a diverse background, Olia focuses on folk thrillers and psychological dramas that break stereotypes and entice audiences to see the world’s diversity.
Olia is currently a member of the Disney Inclusion Initiative CTDI and the Blackmagic Future Studio Director’s Program (mentioned in Variety). Her first feature film “Snowbound” was screened at 70th Cannes Marche du Film and distributed worldwide. Her most recent short film”I AM NORMAL” has recently started a successful festival run and has been selected for academy qualifying festivals, including Cinequest, LA Shorts etc.