Special Report: Dissociated Me (2026)
Shownotes
What happens when a filmmaker can't make the movie of her own life? Janaé Rachel Ballot tried to write a biopic about herself, ran into dissociative episodes and flashbacks, and started shooting without a script instead. The result is Dissociated Me (2026), a comedy about trauma that she calls an anti-biopic and an anti-therapy film. Mike White talks with its writer and director right after its world premiere at the Reykjavik International Film Festival.
Ballot grew up in a Hollywood family, and the film opens with a song and dance act drawn from her own childhood of dance and pageants. She explains why she rebelled against the family business, how years of feature development taught her she had been producing all along, and why a biopic of Anthony Perkins gave way to her own story. Her pandemic-era short Managed was her first step into directing.
Then came the accident: a car hit Ballot the day before a shoot she had been waiting for, and the footage filmed in the trauma unit ended up in the movie. The two talk about how much is act and how much is real, a cast playing heightened versions of themselves, and editing a film about dissociation without stylistic tricks.
Mike also sets the film beside You Can See Everything (2026), another recent picture asking what is true and what is an act. Where does the performance end and the person begin?
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Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth
The Projection Booth is part of the Weirding Way Media podcast network. Explore more of our shows at http://weirdingwaymedia.com.
Ballot grew up in a Hollywood family, and the film opens with a song and dance act drawn from her own childhood of dance and pageants. She explains why she rebelled against the family business, how years of feature development taught her she had been producing all along, and why a biopic of Anthony Perkins gave way to her own story. Her pandemic-era short Managed was her first step into directing.
Then came the accident: a car hit Ballot the day before a shoot she had been waiting for, and the footage filmed in the trauma unit ended up in the movie. The two talk about how much is act and how much is real, a cast playing heightened versions of themselves, and editing a film about dissociation without stylistic tricks.
Mike also sets the film beside You Can See Everything (2026), another recent picture asking what is true and what is an act. Where does the performance end and the person begin?
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support.
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth
The Projection Booth is part of the Weirding Way Media podcast network. Explore more of our shows at http://weirdingwaymedia.com.