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[Scroll - THE DESCENT BEGINS HERE]
we invite you to fall down the rabbit hole with us
FALL OF THE PHOENIX
a mythically inspired documentary about brain injury, neuroplasticity, and the art of rising.
every 9 seconds
someone in America sustains a traumatic brain injury
1 in 3
people with a TBI meet criteria for clinical depression within a year of injury
1.1 to 1.9 million
sports-related concussions in U.S. children under 18, every year
60% - 80%
of people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails have sustained a brain injury
1 in 3 women
will experience intimate partner violence — and up to 75% sustain a brain injury as a result
But hope
is here
This film documents the fall: the invisible weight brain injury survivors carry through systems that overlook them.
But most importantly, it follows the rise. The tools, the practices, the communities, and the new science of neuroplasticity, all pointing to one truth: the brain can heal. And so can we.
Every Brain Injury Looks Different
Click on the pictures to Learn more
about our film's participants
Alex Mortenson
Caretaker and justice fighter, Bethel Alaska
Alex
Mortenson
Some injuries are invisible only because we have not yet learned how to look for them.
With awareness comes change.
Get Involved:
The Final Ascent
Become a partner
We are building coalition with the organizations already doing this work: brain injury advocates, Indigenous-led care, justice reform, trauma research, community healing.
If your institution is ready to move with us, as distribution partner, screening host, research ally, or press we'd be honored to meet.
Share your story
Most brain injuries go undiagnosed. Most people carrying them have learned to keep quiet. We are building an archive of voices: survivors, caregivers, those who have held someone through a fall. Tell us yours, in your time and on your terms.
contribute
We are 75% shot. The final summer of production — Alaska, Colorado, New Haven — is fully planned and immovable. Every gift is tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, From the Heart Productions. Fund a sequence, a day of shooting, or the whole ascent.
join the team!
Feral Films is a small, femme-led crew, and we are always building the circle. If you work in production, impact campaigns, design, translation, community organizing, or research — we would love to know you.
The Rise:
Our Impact Pillars
[1]
VISIBILITY
Make the invisible visible. Brain injury hides in plain sight. Our impact campaign equips clinicians, educators, and policymakers to recognize the wound — and to believe survivors who have been saying it for years.
[2]
JUSTICE
Free what was misnamed. Up to 80% of people in U.S. prisons have sustained a brain injury. With researchers and frontline justice partners, we are pushing for screening, accommodation, and re-sentencing reform.
[3]
SURVIVOR-LED
Lived experience leads. Every story in this film is told with the people inside it — survivors, caregivers, and communities — not about them. From script to screening to curriculum, lived experience is treated as expertise: credited, compensated, and trusted to lead.
[4]
EDUCATION
From recognition to reform. Awareness alone won't change a system. Through curricula, training tools, screening guides, and policy advocacy, we equip clinicians, educators, lawmakers, and families to turn recognition of brain injury into the changes survivors have been calling for.
The last 6 years: Notes From the Field
connecting with people around the united states
2026 the advocacy work moves beyond the screen
The year is 2020 and we are learning about brain injury
Summer 2026
we gear up for our final 25% of production
2021 production begins!