Doug Bruce (born 1967) is an English-American photographer. He is the subject of Rupert Murray's 2005 documentary film Unknown White Male .
Bruce claims to suffer from an extremely rare, and possibly purely psychological, form of retrograde amnesia. In the film, Bruce alleges that suddenly one day, the entire episodic memory bank of his entire life went missing. According to Bruce, he first became aware that he "didn't know who [he] was," when he had "awakened" on a New York City Subway train,[ when? ] with no recollection of who he was, including his name, life experiences, family, friends, home, and work. After the incident that led to the amnesia, he went to the police station but since they didn't know what to do with him, he was admitted to a hospital psychiatric ward, where, with no name to use, 'Unknown White Male' was written on his hospital medical charts and records.
After a few days in the hospital, a phone number was found hidden inside a Spanish phrase book in the bag he had been carrying. Little else was found on him other than some dog medicine; he had no wallet, bank cards, or other identifying documents. The phone number was that of the mother of a girl, Nadine Abramson, whom he had tried to court. Abramson went to the hospital and identified him as 'Doug Bruce', a prosperous Englishman who had formerly been a successful banker in Paris, and who was studying for a degree in photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Due to the extreme rarity of Bruce's form of amnesia, the length of it (Bruce has not regained his memory and therefore is a medical anomaly), as well as myriad inconsistencies in his story, there have been claims that the film is a hoax. The filmmakers and subject deny this. Various publications discussed the improbability of Bruce's story, which centers around being the only documented example of extended, full-blown amnesia in the world to date (aside from Benjaman Kyle). Others concentrate on dissecting the various incongruent statements Bruce has made regarding his alleged trauma. [1] [2] Bruce reveals in an interview that, before his own bout with amnesia, a close friend suffered from short-term amnesia after a sporting accident; this experience inspired the friend to change his life completely and move to Bali to become "a healer". [2] It has been speculated that this friend's experience with amnesia inspired Bruce's malingering.
According to filmmaker Rupert Murray, his documentary Unknown White Male is a uniquely filmed exploration into the phenomenon of amnesia from the perspective of an amnesiac, and it includes video film footage which Bruce filmed himself beginning within a week of the start of his amnesia.
Dissociative fugue, formerly called a fugue state or psychogenic fugue, is a rare psychiatric phenomenon characterized by reversible amnesia for one's identity in conjunction with unexpected wandering or travel. This is sometimes accompanied by the establishment of a new identity and the inability to recall personal information prior to the presentation of symptoms. Dissociative fugue is a mental and behavioral disorder that is classified variously as a dissociative disorder, a conversion disorder, and a somatic symptom disorder. It is a facet of dissociative amnesia, according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
Coming Home is a 1978 American romantic war drama film directed by Hal Ashby from a screenplay written by Waldo Salt and Robert C. Jones with story by Nancy Dowd. It stars Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford, Robert Carradine and Robert Ginty. The film's narrative follows a perplexed woman, her Marine husband, and a paraplegic Vietnam War veteran with whom she develops a romantic relationship while her husband is deployed in Vietnam.
The Knack was an American rock band based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with its first single, "My Sharona", an international number-one hit in 1979.
50 First Dates is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Segal and starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin, Lusia Strus, Blake Clark, and Dan Aykroyd in supporting roles. It follows the story of Henry Roth, a womanizing marine veterinarian who falls for an art teacher named Lucy Whitmore. When he discovers she has amnesia, and forgets him when she falls asleep, he resolves to win her over again each new day.
Bottle Rocket is a 1996 American crime comedy film directed by Wes Anderson in his feature film directorial debut. The film is written by Anderson and Owen Wilson and is based on Anderson's 1994 short film of the same name. Bottle Rocket is also the acting debut for brothers Owen and Luke Wilson, who co-starred with Robert Musgrave, their older brother Andrew Wilson, Lumi Cavazos, and James Caan. Principal photography took place in various locations throughout Texas.
Wendi Deng Murdoch is a Chinese-born American entrepreneur, investor, film producer, and collector of Chinese contemporary art.
Lam Ching-ying was a Hong Kong stuntman, actor, martial artist and action director. As a practitioner of martial arts Lam starred in a number of notable films that found recognition outside Hong Kong including Encounters of the Spooky Kind, The Prodigal Son and his best-known role in Mr. Vampire.
Memento is a 2000 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, based on the short story "Memento Mori" by his brother Jonathan Nolan, which was later published in 2001. The film stars Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano. The film follows Leonard Shelby (Pearce), a man who suffers from anterograde amnesia—resulting in short-term memory loss and the inability to form new memories—who uses an elaborate system of photographs, handwritten notes, and tattoos in an attempt to uncover the perpetrator who killed his wife and caused him to sustain the condition.
Shirley Clarke was an American filmmaker.
Bruce Joel Rubin is an American screenwriter, meditation teacher, and photographer. His films often explore themes of life and death with metaphysical and science fiction elements. Prominent among them are Jacob's Ladder, My Life and Ghost, for which he received the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Ghost was also nominated for Best Picture, and was the highest-grossing film of 1990. He is sometimes credited as "Derek Saunders" or simply "Bruce Rubin".
Unknown White Male is a 2005 documentary film directed by Rupert Murray, covering the life of his childhood friend Doug Bruce, a British resident of New York who appeared to suffer from sudden amnesia, who woke up on a subway train in Coney Island in 2003, not knowing who or where he was.
American Splendor is a 2003 American biographical comedy drama film written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. The film, which chronicles the life of comic book writer Harvey Pekar, is a hybrid production featuring live actors, documentary, and animation. It is based on the 1976–2008 comic book series of the same name written by Pekar and the 1994 graphic novel Our Cancer Year written by Pekar and Joyce Brabner. The film stars Paul Giamatti as Pekar and Hope Davis as Brabner. It also features appearances from Pekar and Brabner themselves, who discuss their lives, the comic books, and how it feels to be depicted onscreen by actors.
Rupert Murray is a film director working in London. Murray began by making television documentaries for Channel Four's Cutting Edge series including Playing For England and Seconds To Impact, and short films Outsiders and This Was My War, co-directed with Beadie Finzi.
Super High Me is a 2007 documentary film about the effects of smoking cannabis for 30 days. Directed by Michael Blieden, the documentary stars comedian Doug Benson. The documentary's name and its poster are plays on the 2004 documentary Super Size Me.
"Benjaman Kyle" was the alias chosen by an American man who had severe amnesia. On August 31, 2004, he was found naked and injured, without any possessions or identification, next to a dumpster behind a Burger King restaurant in Richmond Hill, Georgia. Between 2004 and 2015, neither he nor the authorities determined his identity or background, despite searches that had included television publicity and various other methods.
Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or brain diseases, but it can also be temporarily caused by the use of various sedative and hypnotic drugs. The memory can be either wholly or partially lost due to the extent of damage that is caused.
People v. Murray is the name of the American criminal trial of Michael Jackson's personal physician, Conrad Murray, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter for the pop singer's death on June 25, 2009, from a dose of the general anesthetic propofol. The trial, which started on September 27, 2011, was held in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Los Angeles, California, before Judge Michael Pastor as a televised proceeding, reaching a guilty verdict on November 7, 2011.
Reminiscencias is a 2010 Peruvian experimental documentary film written, produced, and directed by Juan Daniel Fernández Molero.
"Friends for Twenty Years" is the 4773rd episode of the Australian television soap opera Neighbours. The episode was written by Ben Marshall, directed by Jovita O'Shaughnessy, and executively produced by Ric Pellizzeri. It first aired on 27 July 2005 on Network Ten in Australia, as part of the soap's 20th anniversary. Planning for the episode began in March 2004, twelve months before the anniversary. Producers decided to celebrate the 20th anniversary on-screen in July, as winter ratings are usually higher.
The UFO Incident is a 1975 American made-for-television biographical film starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons based on the alleged 1961 alien abduction of Barney and Betty Hill.
