The Wild Girl of Brushvalley Township is a short documentary film chronicling the story of a woman named Minnie Adams who is buried anonymously in grave number 948 in the Dixmont State Hospital Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Minnie is one of an estimated one million people who are buried in unnamed graves in mental institution cemeteries across the United States. The film tells the story of her life through interviews with historians and genealogists, a visit to the local historical society, and the newspapers from the early 1900s that sensationalized her institutionalization in graphic detail for the public interest. Through animations constructed from archival material – including newsprint, photographs, and present-day footage from the Adams family farm –The Wild Girl of Brushvalley Township reclaims Minnie’s story from sensationalist public gossip imagining an alternative history for a woman who was failed by her family and society.
CREW:
Director: Heather Cassano
Producer: Heather Cassano, Emily Hofelich
Cinematographer: Heather Cassano, Dan Girmu
Sound: Tristan Crane
Production
Spin One Films
Director
Heather Cassano
Heather Cassano is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and the founder of Spin One Films. She directed, produced, edited, and shot The Limits Of My World (IFF Boston, 2018), her first feature documentary following her severely autistic brother Brian as he aged out of the public school system and adjusted to his new life as an adult. The Limits Of My World was released on Amazon Prime in 2019. The film screened in film festivals internationally winning multiple awards, including three Best Documentary awards and a Jury Prize. She is currently working on her second feature documentary The Fate Of Human Beings about mental institution cemeteries in the United States. She recently released a related short film titled The Wild Girl of Brushvalley Township (IFF Boston, 2025). Heather’s work has been supported by the Points North Institute, UnionDocs, MASS MoCA, Massachusetts Humanities, and the LEF Foundation, among others.Selected Filmography
The Wild Girl of Brushvalley Township (2025), The Limits Of My World (2018)
