Anne’s niece Emily dies. Anne goes into a deep depression. (Liz Coffey)

Five Year Diary, Reel 80: Emily Died (May 14–September 26, 1994)

Anne mourns the death of her young niece, Emily. (Liz Coffey)

Five Year Diary, Reel 81: Mourning Emily (September 27, 1994–January 29, 1995)

Influenced by filmmakers as diverse as Ed Pincus and Carolee Schneemann, Anne Charlotte Robertson was a Boston area Super 8 filmmaker who examined and shared her life through her work – a mix of essay, performance and stop-motion animation. Diagnosed with various and changing mental disorders, Anne faced several breakdowns and mental hospitals – experiences she documented and exorcised thoroughly through her films – particularly within the annals of Five Year Diary, a project spanning nearly two decades.  Though relentlessly intense and emotional, her films are not entirely bleak, for her bracing self-awareness and humor energize and bring a rare effulgence to the depths of her darkest moments.  Anne boldly exposed her most intimate and obsessive inner dialogues – from illness, breakdowns and longing for love to diets, cats and the minutia of existence.  She also considered the filmmaking experience therapeutic and cited the process as helping cure her depression.