Disconnected

It's a sensitive, moving doc chronicling the life of Tétrault's brother Philip , a Montreal poet, musician and diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. A promising athlete as a child, Philip began experiencing mood swings in his early 20s. His extended family, including his daughter, share their conflicted feelings love, guilt, shame, anger with the camera. They want to make sure he's safe, but how much can they take?

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.

Diam's, the beloved icon of French rap, gave up everything at the height of her success. The young woman experienced a real descent into hell: depression, loneliness, and disillusionment in the face of suffocating fame. On the brink of disaster, she found refuge in religion. Rare archives, memorable music videos, and previously unseen testimonials reveal the violence of her success and her vital need to disappear in order to rebuild herself, choosing the shadows after the light.

After twelve years in exile, Syrian journalist and filmmaker Daham Alasaad returns to Homs, devastated by the war in Syria. Once the city of his childhood, it is now a relic of an authoritarian regime, where different communities (Sunnis, Christians, Alawites) are trying to rebuild their lives together after terrible years of division and destruction. Thanks to Daham Alasaad's close relationship with the city's inhabitants, the director highlights some very moving characters, torn between grief, fear, the need for justice, and the desire for peace and reconciliation. By opening up naturally to the camera, they allow viewers to experience what Syrians of all backgrounds are going through today. "Homs-Syria, Life After" is a personal and political investigation into the ability of this symbolic city to rebuild hope on the ruins of a Syria ravaged by more than fifteen years of war and facing an uncertain future.

It’s the second semester of junior year for Pierce “Sparni” Sparnroft, a gifted jazz vibraphonist studying at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Sparni’s prospects on the vibes were rejuvenated by their new professor, the world-renowned Steve Nelson, and are to be showcased during a student-driven recital in May 2023. But all the while, Sparni must face a crisis within.

On June 13, 1978, the punk bands the Cramps and the Mutants played a free show for psychiatric patients at the Napa State Hospital in California. We Were There to Be There chronicles the people, politics, and cultural currents that led to the show and its live recording.

In Fear, documentary filmmaker Michiel van Erp creates a collage of inhabitants of the city of Amsterdam who struggle with various anxiety disorders. Today, more patients with anxiety disorders seek professional help than those who suffer from depression, making anxiety the number one mental illness in the Netherlands. This film will show how a small number of those patients attempt to overcome their fears, in order to get on with their lives in the crowded cosmopolitan city that Amsterdam is today.

A German Documentary about the “village of friendship” that was created by American Veteran George Mizo to help the Vietnamese kids suffering from the Vietnam War.

The Mirror Room is a 38-minute hybrid AI + human film by Malaysian artist Armen Jay. Part monologue, part memory ritual, this cinematic experience blends original music, archetypal AI voices, and real-life recovery to explore grief, rebirth, and identity. Premiered at Sunway University in October 2025, now available for stream + download worldwide.

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.

For those who electrical sensitivity, there aren’t many places to seek refuge. In a remote part of West Virginia, the so-called National Radio Quiet Zone offers one such escape.

ZAAD tells the autobiographical story of Dries Meddens. After the death of his mother, the care for Dries' bipolar father falls on his plate. He discovers how crudely and ruthlessly society and psychiatry treat patients. His father eventually dies in solitary confinement. While emptying his parent’s home, Dries discovers an old letter from his grandfather. The man appears to have led a busy, productive life. He is the founder of an internationally renowned seed breeding company and still has time to paint, write diaries and conduct intensive correspondence. Dries finds similarities between his grandfather, his father and himself. Slowly the fear grows that his father's psychiatric illness might be hereditary. Strolling through the family’s film and photo archives, with dramatic and sometimes hilarious finds, Dries tries to find answers. He also consults a psychiatrist. Together the consultations and reviewing of his archival material help Dries look at bipolarity with new eyes.

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.

Chameleons

The Bridge is a controversial documentary that shows people jumping to their death from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco - the world's most popular suicide destination. Interviews with the victims' loved ones describe their lives and mental health.

Follows the story of Freddie Stevenson from his meteoric rise through high school and college football to a chaotic life afterwards that led him to reinvent himself and rise up all over again. This documentary connects similar stories of struggle and redemption from motivational speaker Tony Gaskins, "General Hospital" star Maurice Benard, NFL and CFL player Delvin Breaux, and more. These stories are raw and uncut, just as they want to to tell them.

Women's college basketball player Chamique Holdsclaw battles mental illness.

A couple looks back on the road trip that transformed their relationship and confronts the fear and vulnerability of falling in love. Early in their relationship, Evan and Laura embarked on a road trip to Evan's hometown in Alberta, Canada. Armed with an old Super 8mm movie camera, they documented their adventure, capturing candid moments of their burgeoning love story. Years later, they revisit the footage and reflect on the journey that defined their bond. TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE explores the deep emotional challenge of vulnerability and speaks to the profound power of acceptance and unconditional love.

Little Mix star Jesy Nelson goes on a journey of rehabilitation as she opens up about abuse she has suffered at the hands of cyberbullies and its effects on her mental health.

Using poetry, interviews with psychologists and survivors, and corporeal imagery, Broca is an experimental documentary hybrid that explores how the mind-body connection is altered after trauma. The Broca’s Area in the brain is involved primarily in speech production. During a traumatic event or when trying to recall a traumatic event, this area shuts down. This makes it harder for a survivor to talk about what’s happened. Our project is an experimental documentary hybrid that offers a platform for survivors to tell their stories both verbally and non-verbally.