Phantom Limb
- Jay Rosenblatt |
- 2005 |
- 28 minutes |
- COLOR |
- OPT
Rental Format(s): 35mm film
Sale Format(s): DVD
The death of a child triggers this collection of personal reflections on grief and loss. When he was nine, the filmmaker's seven-year-old brother died. Decades later, this loss remains a painful and haunting memory. His parents did not know how to cope with their son's death, and the entire family experienced indescribable pain.
Phantom Limb uses this personal story as a point of departure. The film is loosely structured according to the stages of grieving. Whether loss is through death or divorce, individuals often go through denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, ultimately, acceptance, in order to heal. Interviews are interspersed throughout this poetic documentary, including a surprisingly upbeat cemetery owner and a man whose own phantom limb is a painful and constant reminder of what he is missing. Phantom Limb shows viewers that while grief is painful and isolating, it is a reminder to each of us that life is impermanent.
Best Documentary - Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival, Serbia
Best Short Documentary - Florida Film Festival
First Prize - Black Maria Film & Video Festival
Best International Short - Prends ça court, Montreal
Special Jury Award - Seattle International Film Festival
Onda Curta Short Film Award - IndieLisboa, Portugal
Silver Wolf competition - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
Distinguished Documentary Award nomination - International Documentary Association (IDA)
Screened at over 60 festivals worldwide
Quotes:
"A 28-minute tour de force" a beautiful and original exploration of grief and loss." --Mick La Salle, San Francisco Chronicle
"Loosely structured around the stages of grief, it's visceral, poetic, intelligent, and, finally, affirmative.--Jonathan Kiefer, San Francisco Magazine
"A richly crafted portrait of absence/presence that thoughtfully weaves together intimate and candid interviews with unexpectedly transcendent cultural ephemera.--Bryan Konefsky, Professor, Department of Cinematic Arts, University of New Mexico
Phantom Limb has that strange, rare and haunting power of being something new each way and every time you look at it."--Richard Sowada, Director, Revelation Perth International Film Festival
A brilliant work of art." --Ulla Jacobsen, Dox Magazine
Please note that dvds are only available to Institutions.