When the Devil Knocks

WHEN THE DEVIL KNOCKS

Premieres on CBC News Network
The Passionate Eye
Wednesday, January 26, at 10 pm ET/PT

Through access to psychotherapy videotapes,

new documentary takes us inside a mind in the throes of what used to be called Multiple Personality Disorder

“For years, my alters went to therapy and I wasn’t there for more than five minutes.” – Hilary Stanton

“I knew immediately I must befriend Tim. You want the angry hostile alters to be your assistants. When the devil knocks, invite him in for tea.”

– Cheryl Malmo, Hilary’s psychologist

For Immediate Release

Vancouver/Toronto – January 12, 2011)

WHEN THE DEVIL KNOCKS, premiering on CBC News Network The Passionate Eye on Wednesday, January 26 at 10 pm ET/PT, is a real life “United States of Tara” - the intimate story of a woman suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder. Hilary Stanton gave filmmaker Helen Slinger unlimited access to more than 40 hours of videotape of her psychotherapy with therapist Cheryl Malmo, filmed over 10 years. The therapy tapes reveal a cast of supporting characters, “alters”, who kept Hilary alive by taking over from her during times of crisis. As Hilary says, “For years, my alters went to therapy and I wasn’t there for more than five minutes.”

Until her mid-40s, Hilary Stanton lived with big gaps in her memory that she thought were normal. Then Hilary had a breakdown, started therapy, and gradually discovered that - during those gaps in memory that she thought were so normal - other personalities (“alters”) were taking over from her. 

WHEN THE DEVIL KNOCKS opens as Hilary barrels down a prairie highway towards a family reunion. Alter Tim takes over the wheel and makes a u-turn at high speed. Hilary ‘comes to’ as she’s losing control of the car. 

Tim was one of the most dominant of the 35 alters who would finally make their presence known, a phalanx of inner children who fought to protect Hilary’s core self from memories of horrific childhood abuse. It would be the job of therapist Cheryl Malmo to convince each of these alters that the abuse was in the past: it was safe to give up their memories to Hilary and, finally, to merge their personalities with hers. 

The therapy sessions were initially videotaped to train therapists in the treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder. They are shockingly intimate; taking us inside a mind in the throes of a fascinating disorder and revealing the power of the human mind to protect the self by disconnecting from traumatic memories.

WHEN THE DEVIL KNOCKS marries therapy videotape with carefully-constructed dramatic re-enactments. “Having access to a decade’s worth of psychotherapy tapes was both a blessing and an enormous responsibility,” says director Helen Slinger. “The challenge was to imagine what it looked like inside Hilary’s brain; how to show her inner world. She was very clear about how each alter looked, even down to how they dressed, so it wasn’t difficult to find actors to play the different parts – the different parts of Hilary.”

The film goes to the heart of our instinctual fascination with the idea of one person presenting multiple personalities. In WHEN THE DEVIL KNOCKS, we see the real thing. http://www.whenthedevilknocks.com

WHEN THE DEVIL KNOCKS was screened in October 2010 at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and was named one of the 10 most popular Canadian films. The Globe & Mail called it “an intimate, unblinking examination of one woman’s experience with what is now called Dissociative Identity Disorder” and went on to say that the film “offers two heroes worthy of the big screen: Stanton – with her calm courage – and Cheryl Malmo, the therapist who guides Stanton back to a manageable, rewarding life.”

A month after a truly triumphant personal appearance at the Vancouver Film Festival, Hilary died in a car accident in Mexico. Filmmaker Helen Slinger: “As Hilary went through so much to get healthy and whole, it seems desperately unfair that she didn’t have more time. But at least she was finally truly happy. Hilary found real pleasure in the making of the documentary and, as the credits rolled at the premiere screening in Vancouver, she glowed in the warmth of an absolutely thunderous standing ovation. Hilary was very brave to lay open her life in the way that she did and she was proud of the resulting film, now her legacy.”

WHEN THE DEVIL KNOCKS is directed by Helen Slinger and produced by Helen Slinger, Maureen Palmer & Ray Harper. Director of Photography is Steve Rendall; Editor is Tim Wanlin; Composer is Teresa Connors; Sound Design by Larry Baker; Location Sound by Downy Karvonen; Motion Graphic Design by Tiz Beretta; Trailer Editor is Hart Snider. Commissioning Editor for CBC News Network is Andrew Johnson.

WHEN THE DEVIL KNOCKS is produced by Bountiful Films in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and with Knowledge Network, and with the participation of the Canadian Media Fund (CMF), Province of British Columbia Film Incentive BC, and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. Developed in association with CTV and with the participation of Canadian Media Fund (CMF), British Columbia Film and the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund. 

Bountiful Films was formed in 2001 by Vancouver-based filmmakers Helen Slinger and Maureen Palmer to produce Leaving Bountiful, the story of one woman’s courageous flight from the fundamentalist Mormon polygamous colony of Bountiful, British Columbia. Since then, Bountiful Films has specialized in documentaries which capture compelling characters as they confront contemporary challenges. Titles include The Bully’s Mark, Polygamy’s Lost Boys and Alexandra’s Echo for Global Television; and for CBC Doc Zone, How to Divorce & Not Wreck the Kids, Mounties Under Fire and, most recently, Cat Crazed.  http://www.bountiful.ca