Medicated Milk

Lucia Joyce trained as a professional dancer in France, but soon into her career she was incarcerated by her brother. She was then left in psychiatric care for 47 years until her death in 1982.

Medicated Milk was filmed at locations in Bray, Ireland, where Lucia spent time during the 1930s. The imagery is generated from Lucia’s dream diary and biography which she wrote as part of her therapy at St. Andrew's Hospital in the UK. The sound score by Somadrone is inspired by classical music that Lucia would have listened to or played on piano.

This film was described as “A must see” by Film Ireland, and “Strange and Startling” The Examiner.

A film by Áine Stapleton, made in collaboration with José Miguel Jiménez, with an original soundscore by Somadrone.

Reviews:
“fuses dazzling dance sequences, radiant underwater cinematography… to create a distinctive, yet unflinching interpretation on the loss, trauma and marginalization” Film Ireland
“a provocative experimental film...strange and startling” Examiner.ie
“A choreographic touch makes spare use of speech...The film’s strategy is to summon Lucia through rare first-hand accounts while the camera tracks gestures of scorched skylines and the sea... Perceptively, Stapleton observes that dancing granted Lucia freedom, and represents her institutionalisation as a tragic shutdown of the body” Exeunt Magazine

Screenings include:
Yugoslav Kinoteka as part of Belgrade Irish Festival, Belgrade, Serbia (March 2018)
Light Moves Festival of Screendance, Dance Limerick (November 2017)
Museo Svevo e Museo Joyce, Trieste, Italy (June 2017)
The Irish Film Instiute, Dublin, Ireland (June 2016)
NYU Tisch School of Arts, New York, USA (June 2016)
The Irish Film Institute, Dublin, Ireland (January 2016)
Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, Ireland (September 2015)

Funded by Wicklow Arts Office New Strategic Projects 2014 and Dublin City Council. Supported by Dance Ireland and Mermaid Arts Centre.