IN PICTURES: Special screening of Elizabeth Sankey’s ‘Witches’ in Derry’s Ebrington Hotel

Around 50 women were in attendance at the hour and a half long screening introduced by Christine McBride from the Perinatal Mental Health project ‘Minding Mum.’

Christine explained how in ‘Witches’ the filmmaker draws on her own personal experience of postnatal mental illness, using her own narrative as a starting point to weave together a diverse selection of clips from cinema’s witches throughout the ages with filmed interviews with medical professionals, historians, and other parents.

"The screening is a collaboration between myself and Mara Cavalli from Excite, a community multimedia project, which are both run through the Waterside Neighbourhood Partnership.

"On behalf of us all at WNP we would like to thank all our funders including The National Lottery Community Fund Northern Ireland Awards for All, the Department for Communities, and Gamma Communications for supporting this evening’s event at the Ebrington Hotel."

Christine also explained how in the lead-up to the event a group of mothers produced a zine on the power of connection and peer support, with the facilitation of local artist Cara Donaghey through the Excite project.

This was an artistic pamphlet to publicise the Witches event and allow the mums to express their views freely. The text on the zine quotes participants from the ‘Mum Matters’ programme, one of the programmes Minding Mum offers.

"The film mentions how Elizabeth Sankey was treated in a mother and baby unit while she was experiencing postpartum mental illness and her baby was with her while she received her care.

"This further helped her bond with her baby and recover. Just to note, there are no mother and baby units in Northern Ireland.”

Christine added: "The film also discusses the power of connection and the importance of fellowship and peer support.”

Mara and Christine believe their collaboration was successful in bringing this film to an audience who may not have ever heard of the Director’s work.

Christine added: "It was fantastic to see the audience engaging in a spontaneous post-screening discussion on stigma, internalised shame and the prejudices that affect women’s and mother’s pain.”