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(2008) 
What does it feel like to lose your mind and can you get it back again? In seeking to answer these questions, Andrew Denton journeys into the world of mental illness, a world that’s often invisible because, in our fear, we choose to look away.
Starting at the 2007 Annual Mental Health Services Conference in Melbourne, Andrew meets people from many walks of life who have struggled with severe mental illness. The stories of these “ghosts in our midst” are frank, surprising and deeply moving. Amongst them are:
Sandy Jeffs: Billed as Australia’s most famous mad woman, Sandy’s business card reads “poet, lunatic and insanity consultant”. For 30 years the voices in Sandy’s head have tormented her but, using a combination of humour, honesty and hockey, she refuses to let them destroy her life.
Arana Pearson: Has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and through his hearing voices’ workshop, demonstrates to Andrew what it is like to have voices inside your head – day in, day out, year in, year out.
Heidi Everett: A young woman and songwriter who struggles every day just to stay in the world. Heidi’s angels and demons are, to her, very real and, often, terrifying. As she describes a psychotic episode with devastating clarity, Heidi takes us inside a world where it’s often hard to know what is real.
“Angels and Demons” provides a rare insight into the experiences of those with mental illness. Deeply confronted, Andrew finds the possibility of a better life for people often dismissed as beyond hope.
“To be crazy is not necessarily to writhe in pits with imaginary monsters. It can sometimes mean not knowing what to do in the morning” – US author, Christopher Lehmann Haupt.
Since it aired in 2008, Angels and Demons has drawn accolades from all over the country for its contribution to mental health awareness and has won the following awards: 2008 LIFE Award (Winner), 2008 WA Mental Health Good Outcomes Award (Winner), 2008 Australian & NZ Mental Health Service Achievement Award (Winner), 2008 Queensland Mental Health Week Achievement Award (Highly Commended), 2008 Human Rights Medals & Awards (Highly Commended), 2008 Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia (Commendation)
“Angels and Demons” presented by Andrew Denton is an ABC TV and Zapruder’s other films co-production Executive Producers: Andrew Denton and Anita Jacoby Supervising Producer/Director/Writer: Sonya Pemberton
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