In 1940’s Brazil, Dr. Nise da Silveira refused to use the burgeoning electroshock treatment and was seen as non-progressive.
In her work, she gave her patients outlets in varying activites including painting – leading to several of her patients being recognized as some the best Brazilian artists of the century.
NISE: The Heart of Madness tells her story – with internationally acclaimed actor Gloria Pires as Dr. Silveira.
NISE: The Heart of Madness opens in New York and Chicago on April 28th – with a wider national release to follow.
NISE: THE HEART OF MADNESS
A FEATURE FILM BY: ROBERTO BERLINER
OPENING THEATRICALLY ON FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017 IN NEW YORK (VILLAGE EAST)AND CHICAGO (GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER) WITH A WIDER NATIONAL RELEASE TO FOLLOW.
WINNER! Tokyo International Film Festival (Grand Prix, Best Actress Award)
Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival (Best Film-Audience Award)
1940’s, Brazil- Dr. Nise da Silveira (Played by award-winning actress Gloria Pires) is at work in a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro and refuses to employ the new and violent electroshock for the treatment of schizophrenics. Ridiculed by doctors, she is forced to take the abandoned Sector for Occupational Therapy, where she starts a revolution through paints, dogs and love.
Through her efforts, renowned modern art museums opened their doors to artists nobody ever heard of. Many critics pointed out that these exhibitions revealed painters that went on to be ranked amongst the best Brazillian artists of the century. Behind this miracle there was no art academy, patron or dealer. The artists were schizophrenic, poor, hospitalized for several decades, abandoned by their families and hopeless to all but da Silveira. NISE:THE HEART OF MADNESS tells the real life story of this “miracle” and the life of this rebellious, frail and engaging psychiatrist.