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In a style all his own, Alan Berliner puts his struggle with insomnia under the
microscope in this groundbreaking personal documentary.
A cinematically innovative and visually provocative film,
Wide Awake takes aim at a debilitating affliction that
affects many of us at some point in our lives. According to
the National Sleep Foundation, 70 million Americans suffer
from some form of sleep problem, and 50 percent of the
adults who responded to their recent poll claimed they
don't sleep as well as they'd like to.
In many ways, Wide Awake is also a film about filmmaking.
We see footage documenting the process of making the
film, including shots of Berliner recording narration, talking
with his film crew, working at his desk and editing at his
computer. There's even a raucously caffeinated tour of his
studio, in which we begin to understand a lot more about
Berliner's obsessions and how they serve him as a
filmmaker. As the film progresses, Berliner reveals more
and more about his secret life as a "night owl," and we
learn how he has turned the very obsessive energy that
keeps him up at night into a source of fuel and inspiration
for his creative work.
Wide Awake is not only a personal story; it also achieves a
broader social commentary by taking subtle aim at the
enticements and distractions of technology and a media-
saturated environment that bombards us with news and
information, 24/7. Berliner suggests that the common
explanation "human error" should be reinterpreted to mean
the mistakes of someone suffering from sleeplessness; at
one point he even wonders how sleep deprivation might
affect everything from world politics to the results of the
World Series.
Among the experts who share their knowledge in Wide
Awake are: Dr. William C. Dement, MD, PhD, Director,
Sleep Disorder Clinic and Research Center at Stanford
University; Dr. Leonid Kayumov, PhD, Director, Sleep
Neuropsychiatry Institute at the University of Toronto; Dr.
Mark Rosekind, PhD, President & Chief Scientist, Alertness
Solutions; Dr. Richard D. Simon Jr., MD, Medical Director,
Kathryn Severyns Dement Sleep Disorders Center; and Dr.
Art Spielman, PhD, Associate Director, Center for Sleep
Medicine, Weill Medical College at NY Presbyterian Hospital-
Cornell University.
Wide Awake received its world premiere at the 2006
Sundance Film Festival, and its international premiere at
the 2006 Berlin Film Festival. An internationally acclaimed
and award-winning filmmaker, Alan Berliner's previous
films include The Sweetest Sound (2001), Nobody's
Business (1996), Intimate Stranger (1991) and The Family
Album (1986).
Produced, Directed, Written & Edited by Alan Berliner; Associate Producer: Natalya
Trifonova; Story Consultants: Spencer Seidman and Shari Spiegel;
Director of Photography: Ian Vollmer. For HBO: Senior Producer:
Lisa Heller; Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins.
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