Please join us for the inaugural Mental Filmness, Chicago’s first film festival specializing in mental health. There will be several unique films screening that highlight different facets of this important topic.

Note: This is a free, unticketed event. Space is first-come, first-serve, with spaces likely opening up throughout the day.

Final *Final* Program Confirmed!!!!:

Saturday, October 12, 2019 4:00 P.M.-10:00 P.M.

First Shorts Block (4:00 p.m.-5:20 p.m.)

Call Connect (16:36) (Dir. Indianna Bell and Josiah Allen, Australia)
“A young helpline operator takes her first call.”

My Room 37 (14:24) (Dir. Beatrice Wong, Hong Kong)

“Will I stay or will I leave this room that felt the best? A brief first hand account of my darker days in depression, journeying through my tangled thoughts to the exit.”

Party Of Two (14:04) (Dir. Maria Alvarez, United States)

“Over the course of one night, Maxine encounters a carefree woman who helps her discover a reason to live.”

Jacob (9:15) (Dir. Bobby Chase, United States)

“After finding his older brother’s lifeless body, the suicide prompts cathartic changes in a young man. A true story about discovering the importance of humor amongst life’s darkest moments.”

Brushes With Life: Art, Artists & Mental Illness (27:00) (Dir. Philip Brubaker, United States)

“Eight artists living with various mental health diagnoses talk about their experiences and the gallery that brings them all together.”

Break/Q&A with Philip Brubaker- till 5:50 p.m.

2nd Shorts Block (5:50 p.m.-7:00 p.m.)

Doctors Don’t Cry (12:47) (Dir. Nathan Xia, United States)

“A Chinese mother and her depressed son struggle to repair their relationship strained by the pressures of social media and academics.”

Gray Umbrella (8:32) (Dir. Mohammad Poustindouz, Islamic Republic of Iran)

“Mr. Maleki has a permanent habit, until a man with an umbrella enters his life.”

Jeff Vs. The Mailbox (15:47) (Dir. Dru
Wortham, United States)

“An agoraphobic recluse is forced to traverse through the unknown to retrieve that which matters most to him. . . his mail.”

Antelope (15:52) (Dir. Ben Grace, United Kingdom)

“After being released from hospital, a conflicted twenty-something struggles to reconnect with her family following a failed suicide attempt.”

Bullets (10:56) (Dir. Travis Neal, United States)

“A story of suicide and pizza.”

Stepping Out (6:50) (Dir. Joel Smith, Australia)

“A young woman struggles to overcome her OCD in order to go on a date.”

Dinner Break – 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

Feature At 8:00 p.m.: State Of Mind (133 min.) (dir. Hopewell Rugoho Chin’ono)

“State of Mind is a documentary film looking at mental illness in Zimbabwe.”

Sunday, October 13 3:00-10:00 p.m.

1st Shorts Block (3:00 p.m.-4:20 p.m.)

The Bird (9:03) (dir. Sakari Sankinnen, Finland).

“Matias (12) has once again struggled through one ponderous school day. After school he ran all the way back home, where he could breathe and set his over-compulsive-order free.”

The Club That No One Wants To Belong To (14:00) (Dir. David Grewe, United States)

“This documentary chronicles the life of author Michelle Miller, of San Diego, CA, a middle-aged widow and how she and her family are dealing with the suicide death of her husband John. Miller often refers to herself as ‘The Widow Bitch.’”

Blessed Days (13:00) (Dir. Valentina Casadei, France)
“Adèle, an 85 years old lady, confronts very hardly the loss of her husband, after 63 years of shared life. An unexpected dream will bring Adele to relive the last moments of their life together, at the museum. She will be able to overcome the pain.”

Assisted Suicide (21:30) (Dir. Herb Cremer & Joe Cremer, United States)
“Kristen’s suicide is hindered when her friend Nancy decides to help her.”

Royal Blood (14:33) (Dir. Benjamin Rouse, Canada)
“A privileged young woman tries to find the compassionate higher ground when she is torn between the narcissistic insecurities of her former beauty queen mother, and The Queen, a mentally ill homeless woman who puts on regal airs.”

Break – Until 4:50 p.m.

2nd Shorts Block (4:40 p.m.-5:50 p.m.)

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away (14:10) (Dir. Kasey Rae, United States)

“Alfie Zimmer is a suicidal salesman with a notebook full of everyone else’s stories. But tonight he’s forcing himself to figure out the ending to his own.”

In My Head (9:49) (Dir. Dean Gild, Australia)

“When your head is full of insecurities, fear can rule reality.”

Afterglow (11:48) (Dir. Akira Kamiki, Brazil)

“Afterglow is a sensorial movie about finding the joy of living again. David discovers that his boyfriend Allen is suffering from depression and, on the course of a day, makes him see the beauty and pleasure of the most mundane things.”

I Came From The Future (4:00) (Dir. Dave Lojek, Germany)

“A brooding businessman reads his own suicide note on a roof. He ponders many questions about time travel.”

A Son Like Others (19:00) (Dir. Antonio Sequeira, Portugal)

“Dinis is a teenager and like others wants to go to university. But he has recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia. His mum wants him to have a normal life but she also needs to protect him. Can she do both?”

See You Tomorrow (3:00) (Dir. Katarzyna Kochany, Canada)

“Two macho cops, secretly haunted by PTSD, find deeper camaraderie in the aftermath of a case that pushed them both to the brink.”

Dinner Break – 6:00-7:00 p.m.

3rd Shorts Block (7:00 p.m.-7:40 p.m.)

Farewell Happy Fields (15:41) (Dir. Kyle William McDonnell, Australia)

“Featuring original poetry from award-winning author Fiona Wright, Farewell Happy Fields is a sombre, agonisingly-intimate portrait of an artist seeking treatment for their illness through their work.”

D.A.P. Inside Other Places (9:34) (Dir. Luca Angioli, Italy)

“Mr. Pascal is in the waiting room of a doctor waiting to be visited, and this expectation immediately becomes a source of great anxiety, which our protagonist projects towards other people in the room with him. The announcement by the doctor’s assistant of a delay by the latter triggers a real panic attack, which turns into a hallucinatory and hypnotic journey in the lives and minds of all the people present in that small room.”

For A Better Life (9:32) (Dir. Yasmin Mistry, United States)

“Sold for $100 at the age of 5, Fekri suffers through years of abuse before his plight is discovered. After almost a year of hospitalization and therapy Fekri moves into a group home where he finds support, mentorship, and eventual forgiveness towards the family which sold him.”

Nobody But Myself (6:09) (Dir. Kat Dolan, United States)

“Nobody but Myself is a love poem to my depression,” says poet Kat Dolan, “She keeps my life interesting and by choosing to accept her for exactly who is, rather than hiding or trying to fight her, I have found happiness in being nobody but myself.”

Break/Q & A With Kat Dolan until 8:30 p.m.

Feature at 8:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m.

Bloodlines: The Art and Life of Vincent Castiglia (dir. John Borowski, 90 min.)

“Vincent Castiglia paints in human blood.”

John Borowski Q & A – 9:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m.

Official Website

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Tags: Akira Kamiki, Antonio Sequeira, Beatrice Wong, Ben Grace, Benjamin Rouse, Bobby Chase, Chicago, Comfort Station Logan Square, Dave Lojek, David Grewe, Dean Gild, Fiona Wright, Herb Cremer, Hopewell Rugoho Chin’ono, Indianna Bell, Joe Cremer, Joel Smith, John Borowski, Josiah Allen, Kasey Rae, Kat Dolan, Katarzyna Kochany, Kyle William McDonnell, Logan Square, Luca Angioli, Maria Alvarez, Mental Filmness, Mohammad Poustindouz, Nathan Xia, Philip Brubaker, Sakari Sankinnen, Travis Neal, Valentina Casadei, Yasmin Mistry