| Heartbeat in the Brain | |
| Director: | Amanda Feilding |
| Producer: | Amanda Feilding, Joseph Mellen |
| Narrator: | Amanda Feilding |
| Starring: | Amanda Feilding |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | Unknown |
Heartbeat in the Brain is a 1970 documentary film produced and directed by Amanda Feilding, an advocate of trepanation.[1] It was filmed by Joseph Mellen.
In the film, Feilding, a 27-year-old student at the time, drills a hole in her forehead with a dentist's drill. In the documentary, surgical scenes alternate with motion studies of Feilding's pet pigeon Birdie.[2]
In 1978, Feilding screened the movie at the Suydam Gallery in New York. More than one audience member fainted during the climax.[1]
The 1998 documentary A Hole in the Head contains footage from Heartbeat in the Brain.[3]
The documentary, long believed to be lost, was publicly screened at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London on 28 April 2011.[4]