Juanicas

“On the day that her brother Juan returns to his family home in Montréal from a trip to Mexico, Karina Garcia Casanova begins filming. But this is no incidental home movie. Like his mother, Juan (affectionately known as Juanicas) has a history of mental illness that has occasionally tilted into violence. The real-life drama that unfolds turns out to be a singularly heartbreaking and riveting account of living with bipolar disorder as a family disease. Casanova’s own unsettled history as a Spanish-speaking child who grew up in Montreal with a difficult single mother. Her extraordinary first film is at once an unflinching testament to that legacy and a moving document of surviving it” (Geoff Pevere, Rendezvous with Madness). “Deeply affecting, offering a unique and bracingly intimate look at the ravages and collateral damage of mental illness” (T’Cha Dunlevy, Montreal Gazette).

Post-screening discussion with Margaret Drewlo and Keturah Wong.

Margaret Drewlo has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology and is a Clinical Counsellor in the field of suicide intervention and suicide bereavement with the SAFER programme, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.

Keturah Wong, a Clinical Counsellor with a Master of Science in Mental Health Counselling, has worked in the area of suicide prevention with adults, children, new immigrants and refugees, and sexual assault survivors.

Moderated by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.

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Co-presented by the Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival, with support from the Canada Council for the Arts. Rendezvous, the world’s first and largest mental health film festival, has been produced annually in Toronto since 1993.

Co-sponsored by SAFER – Suicide Attempt Follow-Up Education & Research.

www.juanicas.com