On March 26, 2021, we partnered with TIFF Community Impact for our first-ever virtual film screening. The event featured a screening of the short film IT’S NOTHING (2019), written by Julia Lederer and directed by Anna Maguire. Following the film screening, we engaged in a panel discussion that explored the creative process of making IT’S NOTHING; writing and film-making as media for expressing and sharing personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings; and representations of eating disorders and mental health in popular culture and on screen.
Watch the film here: IT’S NOTHING on CBC Gem
Additional Reading: “It’s Nothing” Excavates My Experience With An Eating Disorder
Film Synopsis: A recent graduate is urged by an impossibly perfect woman to start digging a hole in a nearby park, setting in motion a chain of events that threaten her emotional balance and carefully maintained routines. (TIFF)
Note: We know how harmful stereotypical representations of eating disorders and mental health are. There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of redressing barriers to accessing the means of cultural production and amplifying under-represented voices and experiences in the media landscape. We invite you to reflect on the ways IT’S NOTHING does or does not resonate with your own experiences.
Content/Trigger Warning: This film explores eating disorders through metaphor, including depictions of emotional abuse in the context of an interpersonal relationship and scenes of physical violence.