Western culture treats mental disorders primarily through biomedical psychiatry, but filmmakers Phil Borges and Kevin Tomlinson reveal a growing movement of professionals and survivors who are forging alternative treatments that focus on recovery and turning mental “illness” into a positive transformative experience.
Crownsville Hospital: From Lunacy to Legacy is a feature-length documentary film highlighting the history of the Crownsville State Mental Hospital in Crownsville, MD.
After Dontre Hamilton, a black, unarmed man diagnosed with schizophrenia, was shot 14 times and killed by police in Milwaukee, his family embarks on a quest for answers, justice and reform as the investigation unfolds.
Four-time Emmy winner John Kastner was granted unprecedented access to the Brockville facility for 18 months, allowing 46 patients and 75 staff to share their experiences with stunning frankness. The result is two remarkable documentaries: the first, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible, premiered at Hot Docs in the spring of 2013 and follows the story of a violent patient released into the community. The second film, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, returns to the Brockville Mental Health Centre to profile four patients, two men and two women, as they struggle to gain control over their lives so they can return to a society that often fears and demonizes them.
This film recreates the true story of Tom Sukanen, an eccentric Finnish immigrant who homesteaded in Saskatchewan in the 1920s and 1930s. Sukanen spent ten years building and moving overland a huge iron ship that was to carry him back to his native Finland. The ship never reached water.
The incredible story of Bruno Lüdke (1908-44), the alleged worst mass murderer in German criminal history; or actually, a story of forged files and fake news that takes place during the darkest years of the Third Reich, when the principles of criminal justice, subjected to the yoke of a totalitarian system that is beginning to collapse, mean absolutely nothing.
In his first HBO comedy special, Gary Gulman offers candid reflections on his struggles with depression through stand-up and short documentary interludes. While speaking to issues of mental health, Gulman also offers his observations on a number of topics, including his admiration for Millennial attitudes toward bullying, the intersection of masculinity and sports, and how his mother's voice is always in his head.
Sparked by the impending 25th anniversary of the Academy award-winning film Shine, this documentary explores the power of the musical brain. Featuring exclusive, intimate footage of superstar international musicians in their private worlds, it opens an intriguing portal into the musical mind.
Staged as a series of voiceover sessions, written with gloriously off-balanced precision and dipped in the color green, THE FUTURE TENSE unfolds as a poignant tale of tales, exploring the filmmakers’ own experiences in aging, parenting, mental illness, along with the brutal history that lies submerged beneath Ireland’s heavy, moist earth.
Faceless is a documentary film about the workings of an inpatient psychiatry unit, seen through the eyes of both the patients trying to get well and the staff trying to help them.
Filmmaker Stephen Hosier takes a journey with Richard Csanyi, his childhood friend, as he investigates the life and death of his twin brother Attila, who was found dead on a rooftop in 2020.
Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen's legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious-- instead it's a witches' brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.
In 1983, the director’s 24-year-old sister developed symptoms of schizophrenia. Her parents couldn’t accept it—refusing to seek treatment for their sick child, they confined her to their house, to the point of even fixing a padlock on the front door to lock her in. Her younger brother, suspicious of his parents’ actions, began filming the family in an effort to openly question them. A family conflict that lasted over twenty years.
"Beyond Hoarding" takes a fresh look at hoarding through the experiences of people afflicted with this compulsion. Mental health experts shed light on this psychiatric disorder which is treatable.
The story of who psychiatrists are today, what they do, and what they value has been told by almost everyone but them. Psychiatrists are notoriously private; cautious about revealing personal information, and noticeably absent in the media. What has been the consequence of this? If you don’t tell your story, someone else will tell it for you. Mental illness is the number one cause of disability worldwide, however many patients still fear coming to see a psychiatrist – that they will be overmedicated, not listened to, not understood, not cared for, or worse - maybe the psychiatrist will see how “crazy” they are and lock them up. The stereotype of being “crazy” is equated with being dangerous, weird, scary, and ostracized - and in some ways - so is being a psychiatrist.
New York, 1980. Three complete strangers accidentally discover that they're identical triplets, separated at birth. The 19-year-olds' joyous reunion catapults them to international fame, but also unlocks an extraordinary and disturbing secret that goes beyond their own lives – and could transform our understanding of human nature forever.
"My uncle is schizophrenic and my grandmother suffers from a terminal illness. My grandfather, who is unable to take care of them both, must decide between his wife and his son." So begins Mijael Bustos Gutiérrez's remarkable documentary about a family caught between love and duty.
Andrés Rabadán was headline news after killing his father with a crossbow. But beyond the chatter of the media, what is the true story of the young man who became known as the “maniac with the crossbow”?
Based on Elizabeth Swados’ picture book of the same name, this animated short film charts one woman's struggle with depression.
Days of Madness portray an incredible odyssey of two mentally diverse and unjustly rejected people who are learning to accept it, faced with the blindness of the society and the health system that made them addicts.
The execution was scheduled and the last meal consumed. The coolness of the poisons entering the blood system slowed the heart rate and sent him on the way to Judgement. He had paid for his crime with years on Death Row waiting for this moment and now he would pay for them again as the judgment continued..
As a newly crowned princess, Cinderella quickly learns that life at the Palace - and her royal responsibilities - are more challenging than she had imagined. In three heartwarming tales, Cinderella calls on her animal friends and her Fairy Godmother to help as she brings her own grace and charm to her regal role and discovers that being true to yourself is the best way to make your dreams come true.
“Re-Existence” is a documentary about migration stories of individuals from the Brazilian queer community.
Death is just as omnipresent as ever, and is unleashed after one man’s premonition saves a group of coworkers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But this group of unsuspecting souls was never supposed to survive, and, in a terrifying race against time, the ill-fated group frantically tries to discover a way to escape Death’s sinister agenda.
When Littlefoot grandfather falls ill, The dinosaurs only way to cure him is a flower in the forbidding land of mist which hold unexpecting perils and danger.
When twin girls are found dead in their family’s barn, reality star turned TV-reporter Meredith Phillips and her de-facto camera crew are dispatched to rural Wisconsin to investigate the gruesome deaths. In their relentless drive to break the story, the reporters become entangled in a deadly mystery and uncover the small town’s shocking secret. Edited together from the crew’s multiple cameras, the film documents their struggle to survive the most terrifying night of their lives and becomes the only evidence of a crime too horrific to imagine.
Littlefoot and his friends the gang in their next when a swarm of leaf gobblers had destroyed their homes and this forces them to find a new home but yet find an mysterious island.
Box is a story of two people who meet at a crossroad. Two different destinies, two different lives, face to face in a game of sweat, blood and tears. Rafael (19) is a young boxer who dreams to conquer the world; Cristina (33) is a single mother who lost her balance. Two lives; one running very close to the earth, the other trying to fly high up, too high.
Sylvia's work increasingly takes her away from the three men who help bring up Mary, her daughter. When she decides to move to England and take Mary with her, the three men are heartbroken at losing the two most important females in their lives.
A group of friends take refuge in a deserted sanatorium after they are left stranded in a snowstorm. Later, the place becomes a death trap when man-eating cannibals surround them.
When Erik Stifler realizes that he's the only Stifler family member who might graduate high school a virgin, he decides to live up to his legacy. After some well-meaning advice from Jim's dad, Erik's ready to take his chances at the annual and infamous Naked Mile race, where his devoted friends and some uninhibited sorority girls will create the most outrageous weekend ever.
It's one giant step for dog-kind as Scooby-Doo and the Gang blast off for an epic, other-worldly adventure in this all-new original movie! After winning the last 5 seats in a lottery, Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma are off to space in billionaire Sly Baron's brand new ship, the Sly Star One. It's all gravity-free fun until a mysterious alien begins destroying the ship! As the ship breaks down, the crew is forced to land on Sly Baron's base... on the dark side of the moon! Will the gang unravel this alien mystery? Will Scooby-Doo and Shaggy find snacks on the moon? Will Fred ever take his space helmet off?! Journey to the outer limits with Scooby-Doo to find out!
A young woman fights the spirit that is slowly taking possession of her.
When tragedy rocks Blackfoot High, rebellious outsider Mäddy Killian shocks the student body by joining the cheerleading squad. After a confrontation with the football team, Mäddy and her new cheerleader friends are sent on a supernatural roller coaster ride which leaves a path of destruction none of them may be able to escape.
As election time nears, current Triad chairman Lok faces competition from his godsons. At the same time, Jimmy looks to increase his business relations with mainland China.
Paul is preparing to leave Tajikistan, while thinking back on his adolescent years. His childhood, his mother's madness, the parties, the trip to the USSR where he lost his virginity, the friend who betrayed him and the love of his life.