Film Categories: Mental Health

  • Necessary Games: Necessity

    A dynamic collaboration between Restless Dance Theatre and screen media company Closer Productions, NECESSARY GAMES is a triptych of dance works made specifically for the screen. The young members of Restless ensemble, who predominantly have an intellectual disability, worked with the Closer Productions team to develop these polished films. With three different takes on intimacy and connection and three explorations of the games we play, NECESSARY GAMES delivers honest, idiosyncratic movement and documents compelling interactions. The triptych forms a complete work, or each film is available separately. Part 3: NECESSITY: A game between two girls eternally bound together. They trace…

  • House of Olga, The

    The roots of invasive vines threaten the preservation of Casco Antiguo’s declining heritage buildings in the historic district of Panama City. While the area continues to gentrify rapidly, Olga quietly tends to the plants amidst her home of ruins. “THE HOUSE OF OLGA” documents an unorthodox traveler in search of the perfect dwelling. Spanish with English subtitles.

  • Welcome Stop

    “WELCOME STOP” is a 25-minute narrative film that explores issues of relationship and boundaries among three disabled characters. It follows Morag along the first steps of her path to self-discovery, as she dumps her oppressive boyfriend at a motorway service station and hitches a ride with Gerry, a recovering sex-and-love addict. An unconventional road movie, “WELCOME STOP” radiates a sense of freedom and adventure. Attempting bold transformations in their lives, the characters don’t always succeed gracefully, but at least they try. The journey towards self-discovery and the struggle to self-actualize are themes that, in “WELCOME STOP”, cross boundaries of race,…

  • Our Future Is Bright

    This atmospheric short film alludes to a catastrophic event that has left two women grief-stricken and isolated in a barren snow-covered wilderness. Their intimate life together is shaken when they discover a man lying unconscious in the frozen terrain. For Bria, the older of the two women, he represents hope for the future and the possibility of a child. For Renee, he threatens to disrupt a life that has given her refuge from the traumas of violence. Renee must ultimately decide between having a child and her personal desire to remain free from emotional attachment. Canadian Society of Cinematographers Award…

  • Do Not Feed This Child

    This provocative meditation reflects the inner mind of a woman looking back on the incidents of trauma and isolation from her childhood. A stream-of -consciousness narration and fluid imagery allude to sexual abuse, and to emotional withdrawal as a way of coping with the absence of support and understanding.

  • Song of the Suicide’s Daughter

    Kaja Johnson was one of the few female beat poets who managed to become known to the general public. In this film, Johnson’s poem Song of the Suicide’s Daughter (1964) is articulated and reanimated using stills and animation. “I met Kay by accident in Athens and we talked a lot over coffee-we tried to start a little poetry magazine. She came back to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury. I think she became a kind of street guru. This animation is based on a poem in her book. Very loose style: photos Xeroxed and hand-coloured, bits of coloured cels and a few drawings.”…

  • Leaving Me

    An abstract journey through the fabric of the brain, revealing the fragile elements of self that are contained within.

  • AurA

    “AurA” is as an experimental documentary that explores a friend’s 8-year struggle with mental and physical health. Following a seizure on a soccer field, and the discovery of a brain tumour, life goes from bad to worse when one loses hope for the future.

  • Believe it.

    “Believe it.” is an experimental work exploring the relationship between Christianity and homosexuality, inspired by the perspectives of queer people living in South Australia. Movement has been generated as a response to the findings of audio interviews and is presented through a hybridization of film, dance and documentary.

  • At Home With David Hoyle

    The “divine” David Hoyle invites us into his humble abode to share his thoughts on domesticity, creativity and mortality. A funny and poignant glimpse into the mind and the habitat of a maverick UK queer performance artist.