AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE

Based on the autobiographies of Janet Frame, NewZealand's “mad” and most famous novelist, AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE is a touching and memorable film about an eccentric, gifted woman. Born in 1924, Janet Frame was a sweet-natured, imaginative, easily embarrassed young woman whose unconventional habits led a narrow-minded culture to label her schizophrenic. After eight years of mental institutions and shock treatments, she was saved from a lobotomy when a book of her poetry met with critical acclaim. Far from the painful and harrowing film that this might have been, Jane Campion (SWEETIE, 14th CIFF 1990) instills her intimate epic with compassion and quirky insights to create a life-affirming celebration of Janet Frame's triumphant story.