Plot

Inspired by true events, Anna Biltmore, sues the psychiatric hospital in an unprecedented court case involving her mental health misdiagnosis and forced medication. The truth of her spiritual experiences is brought to the witness stand.

ANNA BILTMORE, an attractive woman in her 50's has profound spiritual experiences with terrifying institutionalization twice against her will, misdiagnosis, and medication as a crazy woman with manic depressive / bipolar disorder. She finds the courage to address the shame and stigma she faces to take on the psychiatric hospital and the mental health system that turned her world into a living nightmare with post-traumatic stress disorder. Her decision comes with ramifications that she boldly pursues for her own sanity and self-respect to honor many others that she finds in the same situation.

How thin is the line between experiencing a spiritual emergency or a spiritually transformative experience and being labeled crazy, psychotic, and unstable? For Anna and many others that line is very thin and often incomprehensible. In a system that would rather see those who experience a spiritual experience medicated instead of educated, Anna's journey to bring the hospital and system to court is unprecedented. It will be the first time that Anna's voice is heard.

With the help of her biggest supporter and business partner HANK they set out to find an attorney that is willing to take on a case that most attorneys state she will never win. Just as Anna begins to doubt her own sanity, she finds MICHELE and LOUISA, two bad ass women lawyers who are willing to take on the system. Illegal forced hospitalization, negligence, and inhumane conditions become the battle cry for misdiagnosis, horrid conditions in the hospital, and dismissing the mandate for training in spiritual competency. No person should ever again have spiritually transformative experiences abused in this manner.

Anna's team creates a strategy that catches the attention of the public. A highly educated army of experts and doctors with lived experiences and testimony of various cultures around the world display the natural power of faith and spirituality. The Judge behind the scenes becomes entangled in his own family spiritual crisis. Television interviews begin to be conducted with experts, new debates are heard, news articles are featured, and supporters pack the courtroom and show their support for Anna outside the courthouse with chants and signs as on-lookers begin to awaken to the message.

Calling God to the Witness Stand follows the stories of others during the 40-year timeline of Anna's life as they find synchronicity within each other's journey. The dramatic ending of the court case vindicates Anna and awards Anna damages for her post-traumatic stress disorder. It does not find criminal charges, but the Judge sends a clear message to the hospital and the entire mental health system that this is not to happen again. The public and viewers leave with an awakening that spiritual experience is real and transformative - for themselves.

The 40-year timeline in the film lands us in the present in 2023 where we witness the ongoing fight for change, the remarkable results from the studies of the pioneers who are paving the way and current presentations that bring the spiritually transformative experience to the forefront of human experience.

A documentary will also be shot during the filming of "Calling God to the Witness Stand" so that we are given the opportunity to document the stories, research and findings of the experts, experiencers, various cultures who respect the spiritual experience and offer hope to many caught up in the system.