Filmed over five years, Out of the Shadow examines the life of the film maker Susan Smiley’s mother, Millie, who suffers from schizophrenia. The film begins with the picture perfect suburban family next door - a Grace Kelly look-alike mom with two smiling yound daughters. But beneath the surface was a dark secret. Millie was descending into her own world filled with paranoia, rage, strange voices and outbursts of violence.

For years ignorance and shame kept Millie’s illness shrouded in a veil of secrecy. Over the last 20 years, she has been in and out of countless psychiatric wards, apartments and boarding houses. Determined to get better care for their mother, Susan and her sister Tina, became Millie’s legal guardians. As they work together to improve her future, the sisters must come to terms with their family’s tumultuous past.

One percent of the world’s population suffers from schizophrenia. The cast majority of these people and their families are suffering in silence, burdened by shame and ignorance about what schizophrenia really is and it’s effects on sufferers.

With grace and compassion, this intimate film illustrates the painful complexities of severe mental illness. Out of the Shadow is a powerful and poignant story of madness and dignity, shame and love, illuminating an international plight through one family’s struggle and dispelling misconceptions surrounding this harrowing illness.

Festivals & Awards

Official Selection: SILVERDOCS, 2006
Official Selection: Vancouver International Film Festival, 2006