AWARD WINNING SHORT FILM ON EATING DISORDERS HELPS BRING THE TOPIC TO LIGHT-THE WEIGHT OF PERFECTION

This release comes to us from friend of the show, Marisa Vitali.

Written & directed by Anabelle Munro, (also author of “The Skeleton Key”) & Leanne Melissa Bishop, The Weight of Perfection is the story about gymnastic Coach Amanda, played by Leanne Melissa Bishop. Coach Amanda, coaches a gymnastics team of young girls, while secretly dealing with her own eating disorder. Hayden Hishaw plays Ellen, a girl on the gymnastics team who is told to lose weight, which ends up spirling into an eating disorder of her own. When Coach Amanda finds out, she is forced to deal with her own problems to try and help Ellen. This film shines a light on the severity of eating disorders, not only amongst young girls and women but also amidst the gymnastic community. The film was also fully worked on by all women who had dealt with eating disorders of their own.

The Weight of Perfection had the opportunity to shoot at the Dream Elite Academy in Los Angeles, where they support positive body image by providing athletes with a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment.

The Weight of Perfection premiered at the Academy Award Accredited Film Festival Chicago International Film Festival, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Orlando Film Festival, and won Best Women’s Issue Award at the Vancouver Independent Film Festival. Some other top festivals where The Weight of Perfection will be screening at are: The Big Apple Film Festival, Coney Island, Long Island and more.

This is what Co-Writer/Director Anabelle Munro had to say: “As a survivor of an eating disorder I have come to notice that there are so many suffering in silence and also, that there are so many misconceptions about this terrible, deadly illness. I have made eating disorder recovery a vital piece in my artistic journey, including my book “The Skeleton Key”, and co-creations, such as The Weight of Perfection.

“Based on my personal experience, it is my main goal to share that a complete healing, freedom and the regaining of our innocence is possible. It is a healing that includes the joy of eating a slice of birthday cake, spaghetti and pizza (like in our film) and beyond the myth that people suffering from eating disorders can only aim to learn to “manage” this illness. Once the pattern of addiction and where it comes from is understood, i.e. trauma, neglect, a false sense of perfection, a lack of true purpose as well as the effects of stress and anxiety feeding the wound, we can learn to rebuild and let go of it — in my case it was for good. I have never looked back for more than two decades and will never reach for toxic tools and self-destructive thinking-patterns like I did in the past. And if I could do it, anyone can do it, too.

For more information on upcoming festival screenings, visit the film’s website.

Originally published at https://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on June 14, 2021.