We’re all familiar with TV’s version of crime scene forensics. A bunch of suited up guys in sunglasses perusing homes, followed by some lab geeks – again, usually male, running tests. That the pulse of modern day forensics started with dollhouses and a woman named Frances Glessner Lee seems contrary to all we currently see. Except it’s true.

Filmmakers Susan Marks and John Kurtis Dehn’s documentary Of Dolls and Murder explores Lee and her “nutshell studies” – miniature dollhouses created in the 30s and 40s, replicated to unsolved crime scenes. Her dollhouses were used to train detectives in analyzing crime scenes, and are still used today. She later went on to found the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard.

Marks and Dehn have been working on the documentary for several years, and are now finally nearing completion. Aside from Lee (and the book depicting her work The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death), Marks’ assures she’ll cover an array of topics, on the documentary’s blog:

“This indie documentary film will also debunk some popular crime fighting myths, while exploring our nationwide fascination with forensics justice television, and ultimately the stories we like to tell ourselves about death.”

I’ve been following the progress of this one for about a year, and can’t wait for the final product, which will, with any luck, hit the festival circuit and eventually find its way to a greater audience. The major score of John Waters as a narrator can only be an advantage.

Marks’ also explains on the blog the wider appeal to the documentary, and what drew her to making it, explaining:

“Dollhouses are supposed to represent an idealized version of domestic bliss, and yet these crime scene dioramas represent a domestic dystopiathat is a creepy and horrific reality for many. I also love the idea that a woman created these dollhouses for men to use. Another reason I’m so into making this film is because there’s a lot of myth about crime investigation, and I just love being a part of debunking and exposing—shaking up people’s reality.”

I’m sold. Check out the preview.

Here’s the info you need to watch and support the completion of this doc:

• Official website
• Filmmakers blog
• Flickr gallery
• Facebook

Tags: Of Dolls and Murder

This entry was posted by fallon on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 7:42 pm and is filed under News, Real Horror, Trailer-Pit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.