The Valedictorian is a film about Linda Monteith Gardiner's long and arduous journey with a severe mental illness. The Story Hi, Iām Linda. Come with me on my journey to the past. This story begins in the first year of my undiagnosed psychotic mental illness and documents how it suddenly erupted. At the age of 19 as I stepped onto the stage to give my high school valedictory address (and to receive several academic honours) the illness took over and my behaviour left the audience in a state of shock and confusion. This film, made with the support of the Creative Works Studio, takes you back to that moment, as I attempt 39 years later to undo the damage I believed I had caused on that critical night of my life. The film catalogues the impact of this crisis on the next four decades of my life, how I tried to survive its devastating impact on my career and personal relationships and how the process of diagnosis and treatment finally began. Why is this film important? After my involvement in the making of a documentary film about the healing benefits of art in mental illness, I understood that film was an avenue through which I might tell my own unresolved story, with the hope of finding a resolution and even reconciliation with those whom I believed I had wronged that evening. The Valedictorian is now intended to be offered first as an educational tool to healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, occupational therapists and social workers) as a glimpse into the mind of someone with a disabling mental illness and is also offered as an outreach tool through which we hope to reach people who have not been able to seek help or find the courage to do so. About the Author: Linda Monteith Gardiner is a photographer and filmmaker and is both tortured and inspired by schizoaffective disorder. She grew up in small town Ontario and has a degree in French literature and linguistics. She also studied piano for 10 years through the Royal Conservatory of Music. She is working to finish her first film, The Valedictorian. She has completed a graphic novel depicting her psychotic episodes or visions, if you will, entitled, Me, At Home with the Cameras. She speaks passionately to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness and uses film and photography as a platform to normalize the discussion around mental illness in general and psychosis in particular.
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