Educational Media Reviews Online

Brain Injury Dialogues is a documentary film by writer/director/producer Lyell Davies and writer/director/narrator/ Rick Franklin whose aim is to help bring the world of the brain injured, often “invisible” on several levels, into the consciousness of the general public.

Franklin and Davies profile several men and women who are living with various degrees of brain injury, Rick Franklin included. Over the course of the film their stories unfold, each one quite different from the others, highlighting the fact that no two brain injuries are alike in their impact. While there are common symptoms among them, the qualities that make a person unique are all affected by the injury. It is not uncommon for personalities to change, for there to be struggles with emotions, a lack of boundaries and inhibitions in addition to physical and mental fatigue, loss of memory, and sensory overstimulation. The effects of brain injuries affect everyone involved with the injured person—family, friends, and caregivers. The injured person often loses the friends they had before their injury and find it difficult to maintain new relationships. Many can’t work and must fight to live on a lower income, yet prospective employers are hesitant to hire a brain injured person, not knowing what to expect. The filmmakers put forth the notion the brain injured need to organize for their rights just as those with physical disabilities did with the disability rights movement of past two decades.

Brain Injury Dialogues joins several other films that profile the lives of head and brain injured people. Some, like this film, have an advocacy mission (Wipe Out, 2008, National Film Board of Canada), others concentrate on a specific aspect of brain injury. What makes Brain Injury Dialogues stand out is the connection the filmmakers have created with the people profiled in the film. That emotional link is what makes for compelling viewing. By the end of the film, you feel like you know Dirk, Nani, and Harvey. (This reviewer would like to know how they’re doing.) They are all remarkable individuals portraying their everyday existence with inspiring determination and forthrightness. Dirk, who is left with a halting speech pattern, is particularly eloquent—an almost perfect metaphor for the distinctive effects of brain injury. Mark Sherry, a professor in disability studies at the University of Toledo and brain injured himself, is outstanding—adding the expert testimony of both a scholar and someone who experiences life as a brain injured individual. My initial reaction at the end of the film was that more footage of Mark should have been included. The directors smartly added a bonus feature to the DVD: Mark Sherry at EBBI (East Bay Brain Injury Support Group), a 25 minute lecture to the support group, also featured in the main film.

Technically the film is well done with expert camera angles, visuals, and music. Interesting black and white scratchboard animation opens the films and grabs you visually right from the start. However, the film would benefit from tighter editing in spots, and a little shorter running time will make it more appealing for classroom showing. In addition to Mark Sherry’s lecture, there are three other additional scenes that will make for shorter discussion starters for educational use. It will be welcome in academic library collections supporting programs that deal with head and brain injuries, particularly health sciences, social work, and psychology.