locks & keys, water, trees

A moving journey through the life and mind of filmmaker and artist Penny Andrea, made entirely via her beautiful, detailed drawings. In 2019, she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor, which had developed during her childhood. She decides to study her vast number of sketchbooks, hoping to find clues about the uninvited guest that had been growing in her head for all those years.

Andrea made this film primarily to understand how the tumor shaped her, and to visualize a way forward. The result is itself a work of art, in which the drawings shuttle between her inner and outer worlds. Throughout the film we look at her work, rich in unexpected associations. In her commentary, she shares her thoughts and observations, from the moment of diagnosis to brain surgery and the difficult recovery, during which she had to learn to speak, write, and draw all over again. We are thus drawn into a rich inner world through a highly original form.