Hotell

Wednesday, April 16, 2014 – 7:30pm
Sweden/Denmark 2013. Director: Lisa Langseth. 100 min. Digibeta video

Beautiful, successful Erika (A Royal Affair’s Alicia Vikander) has it all, but when her first child is delivered prematurely and with what appears to be severe brain damage, her carefully planned life unravels and she falls into a serious depression. Group therapy sessions prove unhelpful until Erika remembers a woman who saw herself as a hotel, a place where you could “take a break from yourself” and be whoever you wanted to be. Erika and four members of her therapy group decamp to a series of hotels, where they engage in their own brand of unconventional group therapy, with both comedic and profoundly moving results.

Post-screening discussion with Ingrid Söchting and Abi Dahi.

Ingrid Söchting is Chief Psychologist at Richmond Mental Health Outpatient Services and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Ingrid has been instrumental in developing CBT group therapy programs for depression, OCD, panic disorder, social anxiety and PTSD, as well as interpersonal therapy (IPT) groups for later life depression. She is author of the forthcoming book, Cognitive Behavioural Group Therapy: Challenges and Opportunities.

Abi Dahi is a psychiatrist based at Richmond Hospital and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Dahi is extensively involved in various group psychotherapy programs and has a partcular interest in insight-oriented psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.

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

TRAILER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkCRxbx_c9Y

REVIEWS

“The film is an entertainingly absurdist, occasionally caustic but never judgmental look at that most frequently mishandled of cinematic subjects: mental illness.”

The Playlist | full review