Director's Statement

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This is the first and only full-length film (documentary or otherwise) on this subject. We have spent four years on this project. It is a time capsule of our lives, created with the blood, sweat and tears of a skeleton crew on a mission to tell a story. In this piece, you will get cold hard facts, intertwined with profound audio and visual stimulation, the likes of which you may have never before seen. You will see a beautiful female partnership – a woman literally being carried on the back of her love. You will witness untimely death and spiritual rebirth.

However that is not what makes this film great. What makes this film great is simply Bernadette herself. She is one of a kind. She will make you laugh. She will make you shed a tear. But please – don’t take my word for it. Watch as she rises from living in obscurity to becoming, in the words of her late father, the “face of C-M-T.”

Below, an anecdote from production on the film:

"I dropped Bernadette…" Yes, it's true. We'd had an idea to get Bern to record some v.o. for possible future use in the film. She had gotten her thoughts together and met with myself and co-producer/editor Jeff Ertz at his home studio. I believe he had carried her up the stairs, and when the session was over, I volunteered to carry her back down. It would be the first and last time. I'd watched as her girlfriend Laura seemed to strap her onto her back and move around seamlessly. So, of course I could handle it, right? Wrong. Well... we did make it down the stairs. However, it was when I attempted to let her go -that we both fell back. HARD. I landed smack dab on top of her. "Oh my God," I thought. I just crushed the star of my documentary. Of course, in true Bern fashion, she was laughing. I, on the other hand, am still recovering from my heart attack. It made me realize not only how difficult it is for someone like Bernadette to get around. But, the challenges that face close family and friends who also need to adapt. Not easy.

Much respect.
Josh Taub - Director of "Bernadette"