My Name Was Bette: The Life and Death of an Alcoholic

Executive Producer

An award-winning feature documentary examining alcoholism through the life and death of Bette VandenAkker, a nurse, wife, and mother whose struggle with the disease impacted both her life and those around her. Told through family testimony, photographs, medical records, and other personal material, the film places one woman’s story within a broader examination of alcoholism in women.

Directed and written by Bette’s daughter, Sherri L. VandenAkker, My Name Was Bette begins with an intensely personal story and expands outward to examine the physiological, psychological, and social dimensions of alcoholism in women.

The film explores risk factors, relapse, stigma, guilt, shame, and the barriers that can delay treatment, while also preserving a portrait of the woman Bette was before alcoholism came to define so much of her life.

The Film

How I Became Involved

I first encountered My Name Was Bette when my friend and university professor, Sherri VandenAkker, asked me to watch her documentary about her mother’s struggle with alcoholism and eventual death from the disease.

What I saw was more than a film with an important message about alcoholism and the disease’s unique impacts on women. I saw a courageous filmmaker sharing an intimate, painful part of her family’s life in the hope of helping others, while also using the process to better understand and come to terms with the circumstances of her mother’s death.

Believing the film deserved a wider audience, I became involved as executive producer to help it find one. Through an industry distribution connection, we secured commercial and educational distribution. A major turning point came when Rosie O’Donnell invited Sherri onto The View and subsequently featured the film on her website. This exposure helped this deserving film reach a much wider audience worldwide.

Awards & Festival Recognition

My Name Was Bette received recognition from multiple film festivals, including The IndieFEST Award, Director’s Choice at the Black Maria Film Festival, an Honorable Mention for Feature Documentary at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival, and a Merit Award of Awareness from the Awareness Film Festival. The film was also officially selected for festivals in New York, Newark, and Grand Rapids.

Awards & Recognition

The IndieFEST Award Winner — 2012
Honorable Mention, Feature Documentary — Massachusetts Independent Film Festival, 2012
Director’s Choice — Black Maria Film Festival, 2013
Merit Award of Awareness — Awareness Film Festival, 2013

Official Selections