Actress and producer Maryam d’Abo suffered a near fatal brain aneurism, whilst exercising on a stair master. She was staying with friends in LA. For three days it went undiagnosed. Eventually she was rushed to Cedars hospital to “have the machine repaired”.

During her long recovery Maryam and her husband Hugh Hudson decided to make a film; both about her experience and the broader experience of brain haemorrhaging.

The film which is screened at the new cinema in Hay all this week is called Rupture. We were treated to several clips of what is clearly a highly impact-full and at times shocking study. It is existential and philosophical whilst interweaving detail about the physical form and function of the human brain. It touches also on the more prosaic experiences of loneliness and sadness experienced by those recovering from haemorrhaging, as well as the range of long term impacts, physical, mental and emotional.

The session was chaired by The Times’ Sacha Bonsor, who has written a book about her own two brainstem bleeds.