"In this honest, thoughtful, courageous film, Diane Israel and Carla Precht speak to the seductiveness of the beauty and thinness culture and the dire consequences experienced by those who are taken in by it. With eloquent voices, we hear women and men speak of their difficult, but rewarding, journeys when they choose authenticity and define their lives and their selves from the inside out."
- Dr. Brenda Alpert Sigall
Clinical Psychologist & Director, Eating Disorders Program at University of MD Counseling Center
"Beauty Mark is an inspiring and powerful documentary that reveals how difficult it is for many female athletes to have a genuinely healthy, joyful relationship with their bodies. We applaud Diane Israel for telling her poignant story. The movie beautifully reveals the factors that ended her career as a triathlete and the indomitable passion that has enabled Diane to regain her health and her love of athletics and to become the role model she is today."
- Marjorie Snyder
Women's Sports Foundation
"This is one of the most effective and powerful films I have come across in the past 20+ years of teaching high school health. I had a GREAT response to it with my students. The complexity of issues and the presentation of the material provided me with ample opportunities to develop discussions and activities with my students. I am so thankful to have this tool to use with my students. I highly recommend it for high school and college use."
- Nancy Becerra
Health Teacher at Horace Greeley High School
"The showing of Beauty Mark for our professional development day was a spectacular success! Our district superintendent summed it up well: 'Beauty Mark is a liberation of the soul: It's not just about eating disorders, it's about all of us.' Many of the 81 guidance counselors, school psychologists, social workers, health teachers, school nurses, gym teachers, and coaches who came are still ranting and raving about the film. It was wonderful to have the co-producers, Diane Israel and Carla Precht, there too. It was a truly awesome event that deeply impacted every participant. Beauty Mark and its creators have begun a speaking/screening circuit that is the best-case format for any high school or college."
- Susan Lesser
Special Projects at Arlington Central School District
"Beauty Mark is a powerful and poignant film that will resonate with anyone who has ever had issues with food, exercise, or body acceptance. Our students from the Five College Consortium in western Massachusetts were noticeably moved by the honest, compelling story of one woman's struggle and eventual recovery from obsessive exercising and anorexia. Beauty Mark explores in a very authentic way the concepts of athletic excellence and competition, perfection, and beauty. It is touching and it is inspirational."
- Ellen Perrella
Head Athletic Trainer at Mount Holyoke College
Coordinator of the West Massachusetts Five College ED Task Force
"Beauty Mark is a real gem. It is a unique, personal, insightful and powerful film. You have created a film which can touch both the mind and the heart."
- Bill Baker
Former Chief Executive Officer, Thirteen/WNET New York
"... A great way to start out National Eating Disorders Awareness Week."
- Erin Hurley
Men's and Women's Swim Coach at Grinnell College
"I was so intensely moved by watching Beauty Mark -- I had no words. It hit home with me on many different levels -- as a guidance counselor, daughter, mother, human... It gave me so much to think about and to use every day. I really thank you for sharing it."
- Amy D.
Guidance Counselor at Arlington High School
"Beauty Mark, is a vulnerable and complex journey story -- not just about one woman, but about us all. She has the courage and determination to ask the tough questions -- how do our families influence our relationships with our own bodies? How does the culture get inside of our hearts and heads? In what ways do sports serve to make us sicker instead of healthier? How can we possibly get back to self-love? Soul-baring interviews with inspiring change-makers, innovative shoots at a mannequin factory and a spinning class, and great music round out this highly original documentary. Beauty Mark has the power to make you slow down in a life of unconscious racing."
- Courtney E. Martin
Author, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body
"Diane Israel's Beauty Mark really leaves its own mark on the viewer as it reveals the intricacies, complexities and often anguish of living through an eating disorder. She has opened her heart and mind to us in a very thoughtful, inviting and provocative way that humanizes the story of the journey toward recovery as she warmly touches the soul."
- Lynn Grefe
Chief Executive Officer, National Eating Disorders Association
"This is very much an honest, sensitive and balanced production. The insight into Diane's personal journey is particularly strong. What I really like is that the film does not jump to a trite "here are 10 things to do" type solution. Instead it communicates that this is not an easy issue to resolve. This is a thoughtful, responsible film with a clear message delivered via a powerful personal testimony."
- Martin Staniforth
Dove Self-Esteem Fund
"Beauty Mark tells Diane Israel's compelling story honestly and openly, and acts as a powerful medium for bringing an important social issue to the public forum. This film is not only moving, but is an immensely effective tool for generating discussion and understanding the underlying issues that can contribute to the development of an eating disorder. No teenager -- or their parents, teachers, coaches, and anyone else who loves or works with them -- should miss it."
- Natalie Peck
Co-Chair, Jewish Women's Foundation of New Jersey
"I watched Beauty Mark twice -- once as a 'person' and once as a psychologist. As I watched the first part (sports/exercise focus), I was saying to myself, 'My athlete-patients need to see this.' As I finished the film, I was saying to myself, 'All my patients need to see this.' It was painfully, yet beautifully, personal. This is clearly one of the best films, if not the best, that I have seen on the topic. It is both informative and interesting.... This film is a true 'beauty mark' for this field."
- Ron A. Thompson
Psychotherapist specializing in eating disorders
Author, Helping Athletes with Eating Disorders
