The Overlook Hour Guest Profile: Penny Lane (Nuts!, The Pain of Others)

The disclaimer at the bottom of Penny Lane's site immediately informs you that, yes, she is in fact aware that she has a pretty famous name:

This disclaimer made me giggle when I first saw it, because it felt like she was beating everyone to the joke, with a sense of humor that isn't generally something I associate with a documentarian (which I could also be wrong about). Although, I should have realized that Penny is an exception, especially considering the first of her films that I had seen was called Nuts!

It was incredibly well made with seven different animators. It staying engaging and informative, but it also packed a lot of humor into its narrative. See for yourself in the trailer below.



We were lucky enough to schedule some time with Penny Lane, not only to talk about her previous work, but her latest film, The Pain of Others, which just recently screened at the SF DocFest. She was in attendance for the screening and a Q&A after the film. She was also awarded the Non-Fiction Vanguard Award!

So far each of Penny's films have had a very different voice and presentation, and the same can be said for The Pain of Others, which is entirely made up of YouTube footage of several women living with a mysterious illness that many doctors dismiss as the patient's delusions. 

Penny's filmography is listed on her site, where you can even watch several of the shorts she has made in the past. Check it out HERE.

The episode is up on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the various podcast apps you may use. 

Follow Penny Lane on Twitter to keep up with her work. Nuts! also has a Twitter account you should check out.

We're also on iTunes!

-Huntress