Village of the Dolls

Village of the Dolls is a fascinating documentary about the fantasy world of Mark Hogancamp.

After a vicious attack leaves him brain-damaged and broke, Mark seeks recovery in Marwencol, a second world war scale-model town he builds in his garden. He populates it with dolls representing his friends and family, taking photographs detailing the town's many relationships and dramas.

Creating the town and photographing the action helps Mark to recover his hand-eye coordination and deal with the psychic wounds of the attack.

But Mark and his photographs are discovered by a prestigious New York gallery that wants to set up an art show. Suddenly Mark's homemade therapy is deemed to be art, forcing him to choose between the safety of his fantasy life in Marwencol and the real world that he's avoided since the attack.

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