A big house but empty inside?

The short film explores the places that used to be called asylums or mental hospitals in the past but now remain empty and are slowly decaying. Yet, they still have stories to tell.

Using and repurposing a collection of archival footage from the BBC and the Irish Film Archive "The Big House" offers one look into what these places might have been and are today.

Written, Directed and Edited by Elena Binnig  

Archival Material:  

Mental Health: Has the New Freedom Really Worked? (Paul Bonner,1964) © BBC Archive  

The Hurt Mind: Put Away (Andrew Miller Jones, 1957) © BBC Archive 

The Open Door (John Hume and Terence McDonald,1966) Courtesy of British Film Institute, Peter McDonald, Terence McDonald. © Irish Film Archive, Peter Mc Donald. 

Hanna Greally, Bird’s Nest Soup, Cork University Press, 2008. 

Music:  

Franz Gordon, Theme for Autumn Courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

Special Thanks to Ciara Chambers, Francis Jones and Peter McDonald

• UCC