Most of us can vividly recall the greatest tragedies and sorrows our lives, but the days, weeks, months and even years following them are frequently a blur in our memory. When did we recover? With audio excerpted from interviews with family and close friends of the British director Jessica Bishopp, Speed explores several perspectives on tragedies large and small – from the death of a loved one to losing a close friend to a new school – and reflections on the role that time plays in the cycle of trauma and recovery.
How long does it take to recover from a tragedy?
Director: Jessica Bishopp
30 July 2015
videoMood and emotion
A dreamy animated tale of grief, friendship and a road trip to David Hockney’s house
3 minutes
videoConsciousness and altered states
‘I want me back’ – after a head injury, Nick struggles with his altered reality
7 minutes
videoLife stages
Grief, healing and laughter coexist at a unique retreat for widows and widowers
15 minutes
videoPersonality
How scars continue to shape the mind long after the tissue has settled
19 minutes
videoAgeing and death
Demystifying death – a palliative care specialist’s practical guide to life’s end
4 minutes
videoCognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
4 minutes
videoBiography and memoir
As her world unravels, Pilar wonders at the ‘sacred geometry’ that gives it structure
20 minutes
videoChildhood and adolescence
When your parents survived Auschwitz, where do you fit into the family story?
15 minutes
videoTechnology and the self
The story of a breakup, an unplanned pregnancy and a childhood – told in 100 texts
11 minutes