Film Synopsis

In 1977, a surprising find in a basement in Switzerland led to the re-discovery of one of the most important female figures in the early history of psychoanalysis.

The found diaries and letters revealed an extensive relationship between the unknown Russian-Jewish psychiatrist Sabina Spielrein and two founding fathers of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. The correspondence charted Spielrein's previously unknown influence on both men's lives and work, as well as her own unique contributions to the field of psychoanalysis.

In 1904, Sabina began her journey into the world of psychoanalysis in Switzerland as a 19-year-old patient of Carl Jung, who was beginning a working relationship with Sigmund Freud at the time. Jung and Spielrein's relations advanced from doctor-patient to mentor-lover as they began a romantic affair that would last five years.

After her successful treatment for hysteria, Spielrein enrolled in university to study medicine. She excelled in her studies and eventually became one of the first women to enroll in Freud's Psychoanalytical Society in Vienna at the age of 26. Her close proximity to Freud no doubt influenced his own work on the death tribe, as many of his revolutionary ideas resemble closely the findings of his young student.

The trio of Jung, Freud and Spielrein enjoyed a professional relationship. The ghost of Jung and Spielrein's past love affair haunted the colleagues, however, and was a contributing factor to the famed rift between Jung and Freud.

After travelling and searching for work as an analyst in Berlin, Zurich and Geneva, Spielrein made a decision that would ultimately cost her life. She left Switzerland and returned to Russia, first living in Moscow and then settling in Rostov (her home town) where she worked at the polyclinic.

In 1942, Sabina Spielrein and her two daughters were shot together with hundreds of other Jews in a massacre engineered by Nazis. They were buried in a common mass grave.

Sabina Spielrein's was forgotten until the discovery of her documents 35 years later brought her back into the light.

Elizabeth Márton's documentary, My Name Was Sabina Spielrein, delves into the life of a woman who, until recently, was only a historical footnote in Freud's work. Through recreations and voice-over readings of Sabina's letters, the lost story comes alive and a true pioneer of psychoanalysis and child psychology gets the recognition she deserves.