Whirlpool

I was fortunate enough to have a private screening of this short film. With a running time of only 17 minutes, it manages to create an experience that is simply transformative.

Baxter as Helen Keller is mesmerizing. I have deaf family members, and I am familiar with the spoken quality of their voices. Baxter nails it, authentic and unpatronizing. She captures the full range of emotions, and restores humanity to a person that most people see as almost a mythical creature.

There is drama here, not the drama of a young girl trying to find her voice, but of a young woman struggling to find her identity. I was on the absolute edge of my seat at times.

I also found the soundtrack to be incredibly moving and unique.

My main criticism is that I need more. Sometimes you watch a feature film and feel that the whole message, tone and best parts of the film were contained in the 2 minute trailer. The opposite is true with Whirlpool. 17 minutes is hardly enough to scratch the surface. I am hopeful the filmmakers will create a feature length film for Helen to really share her story with us.

Was fortunate enough to see screening of Whirpool this year at Heartland Film Festival and meet Kate and Elizabeth afterwards. Amazing how much information they were able to share about Helen Keller in this short. Very much looking forward to the feature length film.

A truly exceptional short film. I am now dying to see where it is taken as a feature. I knew very little about Helen Keller's story and found this not only to be immensely informative and compelling but deeply moving.

Whirlpool is an extremely important story, following an important moment in the life of the incredible Helen Keller, who changed the lives of many through her own personal struggle and her activism. The visual telling of this story opens the audiences eyes to the unique perspective of Helen Keller as a deaf and blind woman. Very creatively achieved! A well told window into a huge life.