Angst

Judged and defined by the system. Kenni, Sabrina, Sebastian, Cille, and Niklas break free from others' words and take ownership of their own life stories.

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.

Growing Humanity follows six resilient women farmers in the Western U.S., as they navigate gender discrimination, balancing life’s routines, and the challenges of small-scale farming, shedding light on their pivotal role in transforming agriculture and reconnecting communities to the source of their food.

Chameleons

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.

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.

The lives of Jeff, Lauren and Lloyd—three very different people who share one common experience—have been transformed by speaking up for mental health. These inspiring stories depict what mental health in America really looks like and highlights just how important it is to speak up and seek help.

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.

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.

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.

This is a Dutch documentary about the last weeks of life in a Portuguese clinic for Emma Caris, a 18 year old girl who had been suffering anorexia nervosa since she was 16 years old.

'Breaking the Stigma', a student-made short documentary, presents the thoughts and opinions of several students and parents about the youth mental health crisis in the United States – and what it means for future generations that will enter an increasingly technologically-dependent society.

An innovative and charismatic influencer is suddenly exiled from her community of creative partners and colleagues when she states an opinion that she did not know was “unacceptable” in their eyes.

Edgar, a thirty-something documentary filmmaker diagnosed with OCD, films his routine as he recounts his past and present dealing with this disorder. He has always been supported by the people in his close circle. However, he has never met someone with the same condition, someone who also goes through this mental seesaw. We will meet a young magician and the mother of a boy with OCD, all touched by the same condition and its various faces. Edgar will seek answers to questions that constantly haunt his mind, such as: How on earth have they been able to understand their minds? How have they overcome the various obstacles? And if they have overcome them at all.

Aiming to expose the extreme mental and emotional demands of being a police officer, After The Sirens is an intimate documentary that unmasks how mental health is perceived and addressed in the police force from first hand accounts. The film invites viewers to consider the mental resilience required to be an officer, with conversations surrounding trauma exposure, emotional labour, multiculturalism and personal experiences of coping. Through displaying the force’s involvement in a recent traumatic case, as well as the trauma encountered throughout their individual careers, the documentary offers the opportunity to go inside the policing mind.

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.

Four peoples’ lives are brought together by the opioid crisis in a small Georgia city. A seasoned firefighter saves the life of a young woman looking for purpose, while grieving parents fight to provide the support their son struggled to find.

David Harewood had a psychotic breakdown and was sectioned in his 20s. David traces his steps, meeting young people living with psychosis and the NHS professionals who treat them.

Alastair Campbell candidly talks about his experience living with depression and explores if radical new treatments can make a difference.

In this one-off documentary, Nadiya Hussain sets out to find the cause of her anxiety, exploring the most effective, available treatments.