Fear's Mission
A Statement from Dawn Dreyer, Director/Producer of Fear
I Believe Stories Save Lives.
Fear is our story, Zenglo’s and mine.
Stories create opportunities for individual and collective transformation. Stories push back hard against discrimination and replace ideology with empathy. One individual’s willingness to be vulnerable can open up a whole world for countless people who are otherwise convinced they are completely alone in their desperation and fear. Zenglo’s story will have this kind of impact.
I have lived with depression and either ADD or hypomania (depending on which psychiatrist you ask) for over two decades. Looking back, I can’t draw a line between the suffering caused by my symptoms and my shame, and the attendant isolation. The powerful cultural stigma and outright discrimination against people who live with mental illness continues to create barriers to treatment both in terms of access and options. The stigma may become as damaging as the illness itself.
It is not always safe for those of us with mental illness to tell our stories. The stigma keeps many of us silent. Yet telling my story and listening to the stories of others sustains me. The connections I’ve made through this work make it much harder for me to disappear, even when I think I want to. I’m incredibly grateful to Zenglo for his willingness to speak with such vulnerability and for his trust in me, as a friend and as a filmmaker. I feel fortunate to be able to do this work.
Fear is my debut as a film director/producer. Making a film appealed to me not only because of my excitement about experimenting with the tools of a new medium and the seductive and expansive power of visual narratives, but because I knew I could find a larger audience for a film. It wasn’t about vanity but about impact. I’ve been strategizing our community engagement plan since before we started production.
My goal with this work is to leverage the power of visual storytelling to create a communal experience for audiences that offers multiple chances for connection. The world premiere of Fear at the Tribeca Film Festival feels like we’re definitely heading in that direction in a powerful way.
- To reduce personal shame and isolation, inspire connection, and strengthen community for people who live with mental illness and their loved ones
- To confront and dismantle cultural stigmas attached to mental illness
- To educate and inform professionals (such as teachers, youth workers, and law enforcement) and policy makers whose actions and decisions impact people with mental illness
- To promote empathy and understanding around mental illness in the wider culture
- To create an absorbing experience of unforgettable voices and visual artistry for all audiences
A Statement from Dawn Dreyer, Director/Producer of Fear
I Believe Stories Save Lives.
Fear is our story, Zenglo’s and mine.
Stories create opportunities for individual and collective transformation. Stories push back hard against discrimination and replace ideology with empathy. One individual’s willingness to be vulnerable can open up a whole world for countless people who are otherwise convinced they are completely alone in their desperation and fear. Zenglo’s story will have this kind of impact.
I have lived with depression and either ADD or hypomania (depending on which psychiatrist you ask) for over two decades. Looking back, I can’t draw a line between the suffering caused by my symptoms and my shame, and the attendant isolation. The powerful cultural stigma and outright discrimination against people who live with mental illness continues to create barriers to treatment both in terms of access and options. The stigma may become as damaging as the illness itself.
It is not always safe for those of us with mental illness to tell our stories. The stigma keeps many of us silent. Yet telling my story and listening to the stories of others sustains me. The connections I’ve made through this work make it much harder for me to disappear, even when I think I want to. I’m incredibly grateful to Zenglo for his willingness to speak with such vulnerability and for his trust in me, as a friend and as a filmmaker. I feel fortunate to be able to do this work.
Fear is my debut as a film director/producer. Making a film appealed to me not only because of my excitement about experimenting with the tools of a new medium and the seductive and expansive power of visual narratives, but because I knew I could find a larger audience for a film. It wasn’t about vanity but about impact. I’ve been strategizing our community engagement plan since before we started production.
My goal with this work is to leverage the power of visual storytelling to create a communal experience for audiences that offers multiple chances for connection. The world premiere of Fear at the Tribeca Film Festival feels like we’re definitely heading in that direction in a powerful way.
