In this healing personal essay documentary, a filmmaker and her fellow classmates confront the trauma brought on by their years at a behavior modification boarding school.
At 16-years-old, Leslie Koren was struck by severe clinical depression and seemingly overnight, transformed from a socially active and healthy teenager to someone who was unable to function. Overwhelmed and leery of institutional options, Koren's parents sent her to Oakley School, an isolated free form boarding program for "problem youth" near Park City, Utah. While she went to Oakley voluntarily, most of her fellow classmates were there against their wishes.
Twelve years after graduating from Oakley, Koren experiences a post-traumatic attack as buried memories flood to the surface. Pressing ahead to alleviate her crippling PTSD and shame about her time at a behavior modification boarding school, she starts asking questions for which there most likely will be no answers, attempting to connect the dots of her disjointed memories. Speaking with her parents, former classmates, and school staff, who all have their own varied memories, she questions how such treatment of youth could be justified, let alone within a supposedly educational setting.
Reuniting with alumni for the first time in over a decade, Koren intends to piece together their perspectives and weave them into a tapestry that communicates the difficulty of assimilating this experience into their adult lives. Through this process, like many with PTSD, she wonders if she will ever be a reliable narrator of her own story and if not, how much does that matter?
"An impressive directorial debut that asks more questions than it answers (my favorite kind of film) and tells a story that hasn't been told...What does it mean that parents can assign full custody to people and to practices they don't know all that well? And that years later the child may find the courage to say: that was traumatic? That didn't really help? Leslie Koren tells her own story, and talks to other former classmates. In doing so, the filmmaker illuminates a world where privilege and care and healing are relative, and in the eye of the beholder." — Jennie Livingston, Director, Paris is Burning
"Recommended. Would be appropriate for higher level social science courses, especially those relating to child psychology, sociology and behavior modification... Perceptive, poignant, and would be a welcome addition to college level curriculum." — Educational Media Reviews Online
"Suggested for education and psychology students to raise awareness about mental health treatment procedures and to elicit discussions about the merits and negative aspects of isolating teens in such settings... Recommended." — Video Librarian
"An excellent film, and for my students especially, I think could prove helpful in their learning about how to have difficult conversations." — Dr. Christine Velez, Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Vermont
"We are extremely honored to screen such an incredible film and inspiring story at our festival. Thank you for creating such a raw and heartfelt piece of work and keeping independent film alive and well." — Nevada City Film Festival