MUBI, the global distributor, streaming service and production company, has announced the worldwide streaming release date for Witches – a documentary by Elizabeth Sankey (Boobs, Romantic Comedy). The deeply personal film provides an unflinching yet necessary exploration of the unexpected yet compelling links between postpartum mental health and the history and depiction of witches in Western society and popular culture.
After the success of her 2019 MUBI release, Romantic Comedy, Sankey now uses her trademark video essay style to turn the camera inward, focusing on her raw, first-hand account of grappling with postpartum anxiety and depression.
Drawing on her own harrowing experience of being admitted to a psychiatric ward shortly after the birth of her son, Sankey explores the longstanding stigma and misunderstanding surrounding women’s mental health issues. Seamlessly weaving together her raw, emotional narrative with a diverse selection of clips from cinema, and filmed interviews with a diverse array of contributors – including medical professionals, historians, and other women who have grappled with mental illness – Sankey paints a multifaceted portrait of the systemic biases and oppressive societal attitudes that have too often led to the dismissal, mistreatment, and marginalization of women struggling with their mental wellbeing.
Witches is produced by Ardisson, Chiara Ventura and Jeremy Warmsley and executive produced by Efe Cakarel, Jason Ropell, Bobby Allen, Thomas C. Hoegh. Cinematography is by Chloë Thomson and the score is composed by Jeremy Warmsley.
Commenting on the film, Sankey said, “I am thrilled to have Witches streaming globally on Mubi, and am so glad the film will reach many people who don’t know about these illnesses, and also find the women who are in need of their own coven to survive.”
Witches received its World Premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and will have its UK Premiere at the 2024 London Film Festival before streaming exclusively on MUBI globally from 22 November, 2024.
