Synopsis
In her youth, Helene Belanger-Martin suffered from severe eating disorders. At age 16, she gave an unforgettable performance playing a young anorexic in the hard-hitting NFB film La peau et les os (Skin and Bones). Her emaciated body and large hollow eyes would remain forever engraved in the minds of viewers. Today, Helene Belanger-Martin is cured of her illness and has made her first documentary: the force
ful La peau et les os -Apres... Skin and Bones.

The film is a probing reflection on this severe condition that is affecting young people now more than ever-mostly girls, but boys as wella "soul-eating cancer" that has one of the highest fatality rates of any mental illness. Its scope is surprisingly far-reaching and its causes are complex, but it still receives too little attention in the media or schools and universities where many young people are overly focused on their performance and become obsessive about their bodies.

La peau et les os -Apres... Skin and Bones introduces us to Annie,
Isabelle, Marlene and Helene, the director of the film. All have agreed to relive the periods of anguish that nearly cost them their lives. They share their experiences in order to rekindle hope in the hearts of young anorexic-bulimics.

At once poetic and straightforward, La peau et les os -Apres... Skin and Bones is a captivating documentary from beginning to end. Magnificent visuals are coordinated with carefully crafted sound features in this film constructed around three intertwined moments in time: the friendly sharing of secrets out in the country; Helene's feverish personal account, replete with flashbacks and steeped in powerful metaphors of confinement; and finally the story of Charlotte and her incapacity to move on. She is 17 and has been anorexic for several years. Unable to imagine that life after anorexia is possible for her, Charlotte is cloistered in the prison of her rage and given to selfmutilation.

The film's message is clearly one of hope. It is guided by the lucid commentary of a young filmmaker who is now the mother of two teenagers. But this moving story is also imbued with grief, images that deafen by their silence and soul-wrenching confessions.

La peau et les os -Apres... Skin and Bones is a vital and courageous
film that needs to be widely circulated to encourage open discussion.

Additional Information
Also available in French: La peau et les os apres...


Prizes and Awards
Not specified