An animated documentary about trauma & the cycles of abuse suffered by homeless women.
REPETITION COMPULSION (1997, 35mm, 6.5 minutes, USA)
Director, Producer, Editor, Co-Animator: Ellie Lee
• 1998 National Emmy Award Nominee
• European Premiere, 48th Berlin International Film Festival
“Extraordinary... Making full use of animation’s power to convey a nightmare, Repetition Compulsion burrows intimately into the world of battered women. Thoroughly deserving of the grand prize (1998 New England Film and Video Festival), Lee’s film is more enlightening in its seven minutes than a stack of documentaries or dramas.” -- The Boston Globe
“Compelling ... Evocative of Edvard Munch” -- IDA International Documentary Magazine
Ellie told a story for The Moth about her challenges making this film. It streams here: themoth.org/posts/stories/lost
REPETITION COMPULSION
• 1998 National Emmy Award Nominee: Special Classification for Outstanding News & Documentary Program Achievement
• Official Selection, 48th Berlin International Film Festival (Panorama). European Premiere
• Official Competition, 1998 Annecy International Animation Festival, France
• International Jury Prize: Silver Medal for Animation - 40th Bilbao International Festival of Documentary & Short Films
• Golden Eagle/First Place, Best Animated Film - 40th Cine Golden Eagle National Film & Video Competition
• First Place, Best Experimental Film - 28th USA Film Festival / 20th National Short Film and Video Competition
• Jurors’ Citation/2nd Place - 17th Black Maria Film and Video Festival. Toured 70 U.S. venues
• Best of Festival - 23rd New England Film & Video Festival
• Official Jury Prize for Best Short Film - 27th Festival Internacional de Cinema da Figueira da Foz, Lisboa, Portugal
• Finalist - 1998 Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award for Best Short Documentary, International Documentary Association (IDA)
• 1998 PBS P.O.V. Season 11. U.S. Broadcast Premiere. The first animated documentary to be broadcast on PBS’ acclaimed independent documentary series, P.O.V.
• European Broadcast (1998) - Canal + and ZDF/Arté
• U.S. Broadcast (2002-2005) - IFC Independent Film Channel
Official Selection: 47th Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia • 43rd Cork Film Festival, Ireland • 34th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, Taiwan • Montreal World Film Festival, Canada • Los Angeles Film Festival • 20th Denver Int'l Film Festival • Human Rights Watch International Film Festival/Film Society of Lincoln Center • World Peace and Environmental Film Festival, presented by the United Nations, New York • Leipzig Int'l Festival of Documentary & Animated Films, Germany • Dresden Int'l Festival for Animation & Short Films, Germany • Singapore Int'l Film Festival • Brisbane Int'l Film Festival, Australia • BBC British Short Film Festival, London, England • St. Petersburg “Message to Man” Int'l Documentary, Short & Animated Films Festival, Russia • 20th Int'l Women’s Film Festival, Créteil, France • Palm Springs Int'l Short Film Festival • 36th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, Turkey • 22nd Atlanta Film & Video Festival • 28th Sinking Creek Film & Video Festival • 22nd Cleveland Int'l Film Festival • 17th Women in the Director’s Chair Int'l Film & Video Festival, Chicago • Femmedia - Stockholm Women’s Film & Video Festival, Sweden • Feminale - Int'l Festival of Women’s Cinema, Germany • Cinanima Int'l Animated Film Festival, Portugal • Holland Animation Film Festival • 21st Asian American Int'l Film Festival, New York • 15th San Francisco Int'l Asian-American Film Festival • Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film & Video Festival • Vancouver Int'l Asian Film Festival, Canada • Festival de Cine de Huesca, Spain • Matita Film Festival, Italy • Festival Du Cinéma Int'l en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Québec, Canada • Festival Int'l du Film d’Amiens, France • Weiterstadt Film Festival, Germany • Anima Mundi Int’l Animation Festival, Brazil • Internationale Begegnungen Hors Circuit - Off Tracks International Meetings, toured Paris & Berlin • Int'l Short Film Festival of Drama, Greece • Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival, Canada • American Short Shorts, Tokyo, Japan • Taos Talking Pictures, New Mexico • 13th Santa Barbara Int'l Film Festival • Florida Film Festival • Charlotte Film & Video Festival • Nashville Independent Film & Video Festival • Tricky Women Festival, Austria • Toronto Human Rights Film & Video Festival • Seoul Human Rights Film Festival, South Korea • Human Rights Watch Int'l Film Festival, London & Edinburgh • Global Showcase Human Rights Watch Travel Festival, one of 12 films showcased for a national U.S. tour
Animators: Nneka Bennett, Naima Workman, Ellie Lee
Additional Animation: Michael Garcia Montoya, Katharine Sheehan
Animation Assistant: Thomas Z. Lukoma
Composer: Christopher Libertino
