The Edge of Dreaming Tonight

A Facebook friend alerted me to this film several weeks ago, and I could only track down a trailer. It looks fascinating and now it’s being broadcast tonight on UK TV at 10pm on Channel More 4 (under heading True Stories: Dangerous Dreams). Made in Scotland, it has been the most watched film in America on PBS for several weeks. The poet Jay Ramsay says: “It really touches the mystery and interface between the unconscious and reality”. From the film’s site: ‘This is the story of a rational, sceptical woman, a mother and wife, who does not remember her dreams. Except once, when she dreamt her horse was dying. She woke so scared she went outside in the night. She found him dead. The next dream told her she would die herself, when she was 48. The Edge of Dreaming charts every step of that year. The film explores life and death in the context of a warm and loving family, whose happiness is increasingly threatened as the dream seems to be proving true. From the kids reaction to their horses’ death (they taught the dog a new trick – called ‘dead dog’), the film mixes humour, science and married life as Amy attempts to understand what is happening to her. Everyone wrestles with the concept of their own mortality, but few so directly explore and confront the subject. When Amy fell seriously ill, as her dream predicted, she went on a search to change that dream, leading her to eminent neuroscientist Mark Solms, and to new understanding of the complexity of our brains. The final confrontation, going back into her dream with the help of a shaman, reveals a surprising twist to the tale. In the guise of an intimate and entertaining autobiography The Edge of Dreaming explores the timeless themes of consciousness and destiny, dreams and reason. Animation, home movies and the spectacular Scottish landscape make the journey a pleasure for the senses and a celebration of the desire for life.’
Here’s the trailer: