The Pain of Others (with Penny Lane in person)

This is presented as a double-feature alongside Fraud. A single ticket to either film

grants entry to both. 

With director Penny Lane in person

Dir. Penny Lane. 2018. 71 mins. Digital Projection. Entirely sourced from first-person YouTube videos, the latest mind-bender from award-winning documentarian Penny Lane is at once a body horror film and a radical act of empathy. Lane tunnels down the online rabbit hole of people suffering from Morgellons, a mysterious skin illness with bizarre symptoms from which tens of thousands claim to suffer, but which the mainstream medical community claims isn’t a real physical condition. The film focuses on the diaristic testimonies of three women who’ve sought explanations and support from a community of strangers. While the speculations and assertions they pass among themselves may vary in plausibility, the pain they’re experiencing seems frightfully real—and as subjective as suffering itself.

Preceded by: Normal Appearances (Dir. Penny Lane, 2018, 5 mins). Lane remixes footage from TV’s The Bachelor to focus on the ambiguous gestures of female contestants hyperconscious of our gaze. 

Tickets: $15 ($11 seniors and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / free for children under 3 and Museum members at the Film Lover and Kids Premium levels and above). Order tickets online. (Members may contact [email protected] with questions regarding online reservations.)

Ticket purchase includes same-day admission to the Museum (see gallery hours). View the Museum’s ticketing policy here. For more information on membership and to join online, visit our membership page.