That Way Madness Lies...

Duanne Luckow begins a scary, dangerous and ever-escalating cycle of arrests, incarcerations, mental institutional stays including Oregon State Hospital (The setting of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), an inability to aid and assist in his own defense and releases to the streets without a plan. Until court ordered, he exercises his right to refuse treatment. HIPPA laws intended to protect his privacy, inadvertently cuts off his most ardent advocates from access to him, leaving him vulnerable to an overburdened system. Serendipitous events and coincidences gave documentary filmmaker, Sandra Luckow, access to intimate and illuminating footage because Duanne is her brother. With their cameras, they expose an ineffectual and inhuman system as well as themselves.

  • Sandra Luckow
    Director
    Sharp Edges, Belly Talkers, A World Within
  • Sandra Luckow
    Writer
  • Regina K. Scully
    Producer
  • Geryalyn Dreyfous
    Producer
  • Abigail Disney
    Producer
  • Anne Alvergue
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    personal film, mental health, family issues, stigma, schizophenia
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 41 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    650,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Northwest Film Center, NW Tracking Series
    Portland Oregon
    United States
    May 11, 2017
  • Nice International Film Festival
    Nice
    France
    May 18, 2017
    nominations: Best Feature Documentary, Best Director of a Documentary, Education and Science Award
  • Lighthouse International Film Festival
    Long Island Beach Township
    United States
    June 9, 2017
  • Beacon Independent Film Festival
    Beacon, New York
    United States
    September 16, 2017
  • Angaelica Arts Festival
    Big Bear, California
    United States
    September 22, 2017
  • NYC Chain Film Festival
    New York, NY
    August 17, 2018
    Best of Festival
  • Hot Springs International Film Festival
    Hot Springs, AR
    March 16, 2018
    Best Documentary Feature
  • Big Apple Film Festival
    New York, NY
    November 6, 2017
  • Richmond International Film Festival
    Richmond, VA
    April 28, 2018
    Special Jury Prize
Distribution Information
  • First Run Features
    Country: United States
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Sandra Luckow

Sandra Luckow began her filmmaking career as an undergraduate at Yale University. Sharp Edges, her BA thesis, won the Louis Sudler Prize in the Performing and Creative Arts. This intimate portrait of a fifteen year old figure skater from her home town received world-wide attention 8 years later when scandal broke before the 1994 Lilihammer Olympics. Then in 2017, it became the visual basis for the feature, I, TONYA and Allison Janney's Academy Award winning performance as Mrs Harding.

Luckow did her MFA graduate work at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Film School in writing and directing.

She worked in casting at major Hollywood studios. She as shot for numerous shot reality television shows and documentaries that have taken her to China, Mexico, France, India, and Sundance. Her non-profit films have won Telly Awards and celebrity interviews have been broadcast in a variety of mediums from Broadway to the Internet.

She has adapted a WWII screenplay from a memoir and is beginning work on a documentary about the artist Faith Ringgold.

Luckow teaches both documentary and narrative film production at Yale University, School of Art, Barnard College, and Columbia University. She created and ran a six week intensive filmmaking workshop at the Yale Summer Film Institute.

Sandra has served as a juror for many festivals including, for eight years, as head juror of the USA Film Festival Short Film and Video Competition, an Academy Award qualifier.

She is a proud member of the Directors' Guild of America, The International Documentary Association and New York Women in Film and Television.

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Director Statement

Everything I have done both personally and professionally has been mere preparation for tackling this difficult and important material.

The last thing I ever wanted to do was to turn the camera on my own family and expose the vulnerability, suffering and loss that took place. However, I believe lives depend on this film having been made and seen. People will be able to understand why it is almost impossible to help the most vulnerable in our society.