Hysterical Girl
"Extraordinary... a feature’s worth of ideas, emotions, allusions, references, and associations condensed into a mere thirteen minutes.” - Richard Brody, The New Yorker
Sigmund Freud produced only one major case history of a female patient. Kate Novack’s Hysterical Girl revisits this landmark treatment and considers the insidious ways that Freud’s theory of hysteria continues to silence and shame victims of sexual assault, more than a century later. Slated to world-premiere at SXSW in 2020, "Hysterical Girl" was acquired by The New York Times Op-Docs, the short film arm of the paper's opinion pages, and distributed theatrically by Grasshopper Film. It was nominated for Best Short of the year by the International Documentary Association and was a nominee for Best International Film at the Norwich Film Festival.
“Dora” — the name Freud used at the turn of the 20th century to protect his subject’s identity — was 17 when her parents brought her to therapy after she came forward about being sexually assaulted by a family friend. During the 11-week treatment, Freud chipped away at the case like a detective of the unconscious: why would you keep seeing the man you say assaulted you? Are you out for revenge? Did you send out signals? Did you secretly want it? More than a century later, the questions that women face haven’t changed much.
Hysterical Girl uses a feminist lens to imagine Dora as a girl today. Performed by Tommy Vines, a 16-year-old actor in her first screen role, Dora tells her version of events, alongside Freud’s own words. Woven throughout are several decades of archival material — from the cinema of John Hughes and Roman Polanski to the Congressional testimonies of Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford. What emerges is a unique portrait of the lasting legacy of Freud's Dora case and an indictment of the archaic narratives that silence survivors.
“Hysterical Girl is a brilliant and inspired doc short that views Freud’s singular female patient case study through a modern lens. The film was recently selected for Oscar’s shortlist and is very much worth seeking out.” - Mark Johnson, Awardsdaily.com
“Dora's account carries additional weight because of all the other people whose stories it tells, the centuries of disbelief it attests to...After more than a century, we ought to be ready to listen.” - Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film
