Mental well-being is often invisible to the naked eye, and vulnerability is often stigmatized when it's more apparent. Whether pain is caused by chemicals, trauma, or capitalism, healing always begins with compassion and understanding. This selection of films explores issues of mental health with sensitivity and clarity.
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In 1995, Shannon Hoon, lead singer of indie rock band Blind Melon, died of a cocaine overdose. Highly personal and sometimes experimental footage from his vast video archive tells a story about the bright and dark sides of fame.
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This exhibition features different elements to learn about the spiritual ceremony as it’s conducted by Shipibo shamans, with the interactive VR installation Ayahuasca – A Kosmik Journey as centerpiece, giving each individual their own personal immersive experience.
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Exploring the possibilities of 360-degree in a dome experience to alter our sense of reality, Ayahuasca - Kosmik Journey follows the ritual as it is conducted by Shipibo shamans.
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An intimate essay on the human body, disease and health. Departing from personal experience, filmmaker Ira A. Goryainova explores how we have looked at ourselves and our illnesses over the centuries.
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The German actress Maryam Zaree fled the Iranian regime as a small child with her mother. She knows she was born in prison, but nobody ever talks about it. Now she wants to know why.
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Fifteen-year-old Enock and other African orphans get a strict Buddhist education at the Chinese boarding school in Malawi. Now he’s faced with a choice: should he go study in faraway Taiwan or return to his home village?
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During the making of a dance theater piece, a special friendship develops between director Réka Szabó and her two leads: the young dancer Emese Cuhorka and the elderly writer and activist Éva Fahidi.
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An optimistic portrait of four young Scandinavian women who start a body positivity movement. They carry their fat bodies with pride, and bid farewell to the self-hatred and guilt they have lived with for so long.
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Director Alina Marazzi uses home videos and diary excerpts to reconstruct the life of her mother, who committed suicide when she was seven years old. Hazy memories form a testimony to the great absence in her life.
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A fascinating look at deep brain stimulation and its history, effects, impact and ethical implications. From Robert Heath’s first controversial experiments in the 1960s and 1970s to modern-day applications.
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An effective, understated story about the young Ryan, who is in Hydebank Wood Prison just outside Belfast. Within the prison walls, he tends a small flock of sheep and talks about his life.
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Director Nicole Costa discovers that an old Chilean friend of hers has reinvented himself as the transgender drag queen Monalisa, who writes astute pieces about the rawness of life as a prostitute on the fringes of New York society.
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In a breathtaking collage of ultra-short film excerpts, Frank Beauvais talks about his past, fears, thoughts and desires. The result is a superior and autobiographical sampling composition with a literary slant.
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A moving and tender portrait of the parents of filmmaker Ruud Lenssen. His father Jac has vascular dementia, and his mother Ria is struggling in her role as caregiver. As the disease progresses, an inevitable decision draws ever closer.
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There are just 45 public-run ambulances operating in Mexico City. Private ambulances, such as the one run by the Ochoa family, offer a lifeline for this huge metropolis. We closely follow the family over a series of intense, nerve-wracking nights.
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In the privacy of treatment rooms at an Argentine public hospital, teenage girls have to make a decision about the new life growing inside them. Conversations with the professionals caring for them reveal complex lives and fragile dreams of the future.
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An intimate and sincere portrait of problem teenagers who are placed under temporary supervision. The challenging conversations with a counselor are meant to lead to a better life, but their past won’t leave them alone.
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This portrait of a woman who is imprisoned for a brutal murder isn’t about her crime or punishment, but about herself. With both the director and the protagonist having a passionate desire to make this film, an intriguing interplay unfolds.
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A powerful portrait of Li Ermao, who lives as a “ladyboy”. The film follows her over the course of 17 years in her native China, as she searches for love and acceptance but encounters prejudice and aggression.
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A harrowing account of the fate of homeless Iranian women who were plucked from the streets of Tehran and placed in detention facilities, with no trial or hope of release. Stop-motion animations form the visual accompaniment to their unvarnished stories.
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A compassionate portrait of people growing up with serious disabilities in Switzerland and Germany. What does the type of care these young people receive, and their position in society, tell us about the Western world?
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