Thursday July 21, 2005 – 7:30 pm
Canada 1979. Director: David Cronenberg
Post-screening discussion with David Spaner
Struggling with a crumbling marriage, Nola Carveth (Samantha Eggar)
undergoes an experimental psychiatric therapy that encourages her to
purge her emotional turmoil by embracing and fully experiencing her
rage. Practiced by the charismatic Dr Raglan (Oliver Reed) at the
isolated Somafree Institute, this new treatment is not without its side
effects.
Preceded by
Birthday
Canada, 2004. Director: Erös
Martha prepares a birthday cake for her daughter Mira. When a young man
arrives with his best wishes, Martha dismisses him. Meanwhile, cocooned
in a dark cavity of the basement, Mira’s restless sleep ends abruptly,
as she awakes covered in blood.
Thursday, June 16, 2005 – 7:30 pm
Australia/United Kingdom, 1996. Director: Scott Hicks
Post-screening discussion with Dr Mark Welch
An unexpected international box office sensation, Shine grossed well over $100 million
worldwide and garnered seven Academy Award nominations (including Best Film), with
newcomer Geoffrey Rush taking home the Best Actor Award. The film is based on the
true story of David Helfgott, an Australian pianist and child prodigy who is emotionally
brutalized by his father
NEIGHBOURS: FREUD AND HITLER IN VIENNA
Canada, 2003. Dir: Manfred Becker
Post-screening discussant: Manfred Becker
THURS. MAY 12th at 7:30 pm
THE MACHINIST
USA/Spain, 2003. Dir: Brad Anderson
Post-screening discussant: Dr. Roland Atkinson
FRI. MAY 13th at 7:30 pm
“STORMY WEATHER”
Belgium/France/Iceland, 2003. Dir: Solveig Anspach
Post-screening discussant: Dr. Laura Chapman
SAT. MAY 14th at 7:30 pm
“OUT OF THE SHADOW”
USA, 2004. Dir: Susan Smiley
Post-screening discussant: Susan Smiley
Introduced by Mayor Larry Campbell and Karen O’Shannacery
SUN. MAY 15th at 7:30 pm
A Benefit for the Lookout Emergency Aid Society
SPECIAL WORKSHOPS:
“Treating Tony Soprano” with Dr. Roland Atkinson: Sat. May 14th at 2:00 pm
“The Sterilization of Leilani Muir” with Leilani Muir and Jay Chalke: Sun. May 15th at 2:00 pm
Thursday, April 21, 2005 – 7:30 pm
USA 1972. Director: Peter Robinson
Post-screening discussion with Richard W. Adams& Andrew Feldmár
In 1971, a trio of
filmmakers was granted permission by its residents to film for six
weeks in a unique home for “mentally troubled” individuals in London,
UK. The Archway Community was based in large part on the theories of
the late radical psychiatrist R.D. Laing, in particular his belief that
a communal living arrangement could avoid the hierarchical structure of
the usual doctor-patient relationship and break the cycle of people
being fruitlessly shuttled between mental hospitals and their often
dysfunctional homes.
Thursday, March 17, 2005 – 7:30 pm
Israel 2002. Director: Hadar Friedlich
Post-screening discussion with Rabbi Philip Bregman and Dr. Steve Taylor
In a Jewish Orthodox village in Israel, Tamar – a twelve year old girl – prepares for her Bat-Mitzva (Confirmation), which will take place on Passover. She becomes convinced that she is impure and grows increasingly scared and depressed. She forces herself into an endless ritual of cleaning, while attempting to silence her unyielding whispering inner obsessional thoughts which detail every inch of her relentless guilt, over and over again.
Thurday, February 17, 2005 – 7:30 pm
West Germany 1978. Director: Reinhard Hauff
Post-screening discussion with Dr. Robert Stowe
Co-sponsored by the UBC Dept of Psychiatry Neuropsychiatry Program and the Lower Mainland Brain Injury Association
A disturbing and suspenseful film, “Knife in the Head” examines the
catastrophic effects on one man of being caught in the wrong place at
the wrong time. Dr. Berthold Hoffman (Bruno Ganz) is a leading
biogeneticist, married to his work and disinterested in politics. One
night he goes to meet his estranged wife at the youth centre where she
works.
Thursday, January 20, 2005 – 7:30 pm
Sweden 2001. Director: Bille August
Co-sponsored by the Richmond Mental Health Services Older Adult Team and the Consulate General of Sweden in Vancouver.
A Song for Martin tells the story of two people late in life who find sudden, delirious love,
and then lose it in one of the most painful ways possible – to
Alzheimer’s disease. Barbara (Viveka Seldahl), a concert violinist, and
Martin (Sven Wollter), a world-famous conductor and composer, meet for
the first time when both are middle-aged.
Thursday, December 16, 2004 – 7:30pm
USA 1994. Director: Terry Zwigoff
Co-sponsored by the Mood Disorders Association of BC and The Comicshop.
This is an important but painful to watch documentary that will likely have at least some viewers protesting “Too Much Information.” Robert Crumb is a now famous underground artist/cartoonist whose achievements include founding ‘Zap Comix’, creating the ‘Keep on Trucking’ logo and the Fritz the Cat character (but not its derivative and world’s first X-rated animated feature), and drawing the Cheap Thrills LP cover.
Thursday, November 18, 2004 – 7:30 pm
USA 2003. Director: Amie Siegel
Empathy is a multilayered film that is part documentary and part fiction. Interspersed with interviews with three psychoanalysts (all, and likely not coincidentally, older white males), is the fictional depiction of an actress named Lia (Gigi Buffington) in psychoanalysis as well as the screen tests of actresses auditioning for the role of Lia. Co-sponsored by the Western Branch of the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society
Thursday, October 21, 2004 – 7:30 pm
France/Belgium/UK 1996. Director: Jaco Van Dormael
Post-screening discussion with Dr. Robin Friedlander
Co-sponsored by the BC Association for Mental Health in Developmental Disability, Down Syndrome Research Foundation, & Lower Mainland Down Syndrome Society.
The plot of ‘The Eighth Day’ is sentimental, straight forward and perhaps a little well worn. Georges – an unsophisticated and happy character (played by Pascal Duquenne) teaches Harry, a complex and unhappy character (played by Daniel Auteuil) how to embrace simplicity and freedom. However the film transcends its conventional story line on two levels. Pascal Duquenne is a professional actor in Belgium who just happens to have Down’s Syndrome.
