Jung and Film Online | Gaslight

Presented by: John Gosling, Julie Manegold & Grace Reid
Venue: Online via Zoom. We will be screening the film online on the evening.
Date: Friday, 11 April 2025
Time: 6pm – 9pm SAST (GMT+2).
Please log in by 5.50pm, the screening starts promptly at 6pm SAST
Fee: ZAR160 per film evening.
Film notes will be provided beforehand. Booking is essential.

If you enjoy exploring films from a Jungian perspective, please feel free to join us.
These evenings are open to all interested members of the public and clinicians.

Gaslight (1944) is the psychological thriller that inspired the term “gaslighting,” directed by George Cukor, starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten.

The film centers on Paula Alquist (Bergman), a young woman who is manipulated by her husband, Gregory Anton (Boyer), into doubting her sanity. After inheriting her aunt’s house, Paula becomes the target of Gregory’s sinister plot to drive her mad by slowly altering her environment, including dimming the gaslights and convincing her she is imagining it. As the tension escalates, Paula’s grip on reality weakens, but a determined detective (Cotten) helps her uncover the truth, revealing Gregory’s dark intentions. Bergman’s powerful performance won her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

The film explores themes of psychological abuse and manipulation and, from a Jungian perspective, it illustrates the phenomena of shadow and trickster, anima and animus, issues of traditional patriarchy and the oppression of the feminine, and, ultimately, individuation.

The format of our Jung & Film evenings is that the attendees and facilitators watch the film together on Zoom, followed by a discussion of the film, which includes contributions by facilitators and participants. Before each screening, the facilitators will circulate notes, which discuss and amplify the film.

It is our hope that viewers will become lost in the drama of the film and potentially access aspects of their own experiences and inner life, which they may then choose to share with others during the discussion.

Watch a scene from Gaslight here: 

Please note:

• Bookings and payments are now via the SAAJA website only (book your tickets online further below)
• You’ll receive the Zoom link upon confirmation of your booking, but it will also be distributed via email to all registered participants on the day of the event.
• If you don’t have it already, you will need to download Zoom prior to this event – you simply download the free Zoom App onto your computer or mobile device.

About the Facilitators

John Gosling is a psychiatrist and Jungian analyst. He trained at the C.G. Jung Institute of New York and returned to Cape Town in 2004. He is a past-president of SAAJA and is also a training analyst. He has a special interest in unprocessed trauma, the lifelong effects this has on our lives if left untreated. and how psychoneurobiology informs our work and approach to psyche. He actively works with dreams and has a special interest in applying the principles of analytical psychology to films and everyday life.

Julie Manegold is a clinical psychologist, art psychotherapist and Jungian analyst working in private practice in Hilton in KwaZulu Natal. She has a longstanding interest in the mystical traditions of various religions, with a specific interest in Gnosis, Sufism and Christian Mysticism. Her areas of clinical interest include the challenges of midlife, dream analysis and working with images.

Grace Reid is a psychologist and Jungian analyst who practices psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and supervision in Kenilworth. Her training and education took place mostly in the United States, where she was in private practice for five years before moving to Cape Town in 1990. Her special interests include the psychology of aging, dream analysis, psychological types, and the practical application of Jungian theory in everyday life. She has served as secretary of SAAJA and is a training analyst.