CIHR Project

Run Time: 2min

Synposis: This animated true story, set in a jail, pits the blue suits against the brown suits and calls into question the true definition of crazy.

Run Time: 5min

Synopsis: An exploration of “the flak,” attached to being a consumer/survivor dependent on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and living in poverty.

Run Time: 13min

Synopsis: An evocative, multifaceted portrait of acclaimed Canadian poet, artist, singer and peer mental health advocate Bill Bissett.

Run Time: 9min

Synopsis: An examination of the issues people with mental health issues face while living in homeless shelters.

Run Time: 4min

Synopsis: A visit to Toronto’s Allan Garden to explore public perceptions of mental health and the hurdles that people with mental illness face.

Official Selection of 2016 Bluenose-Ability Film Festival

Run Time: 16min

Synopsis: For many people, art is considered a form of therapy. This film explores the relationship between art and people with mental illness, and how making art is essential in their recovery.

Run Time: 5min

Synopsis: Participants in Toronto’s 2017 Mad Pride celebrations talk about the need to break the silence surrounding mental illness.

Run Time: 4min

Synopsis: Participants in Toronto’s 2017 Mad Pride talk about how to deal with the labels that we put on people with mental illness and the need to embrace neuro-diversity.

Run Time: 4min

Synopsis: Participants in Toronto’s 2017 Mad Pride opine on whether there are any benefits to being afflicted with a mental illness.

Run Time: 2min

Synopsis: A short film exploring what Mad Pride means to some of the participants in Toronto’s 2016 Mad Pride Parade.

Run Time: 6min

Synopsis: A short film about a man who uses fitness, dance and exercise to cope with mental illness and enjoy life.

Official Selection of the 2017 Au Contraire Film Festival

Run Time: 15min

Synopsis: A documentary about a woman living with mental illness, homelessness, and recovery.

Run Time: 5min

Synopsis: My Free Day! is the story of two times that I was in the hospital and under treatment for a mental health diagnosis. It is also about being captured and being free. It explains what went on in my mind at those times. The theme is that talking helps, and this is what this short film has allowed me to do: to talk about it. I hope you will think about what happened to me and find the freedom to share your own experiences.

Run Time: 13min

Synopsis: A young man named Charlie takes you on a brief journey to the inner workings of his mind. He shares his darkest thoughts and saddest emotions, but also his hopes.

Run Time: 7min

Synopsis: Show me love not intimidation is a documentary series that looks at the misuse of authority and its effect on mental health. In episode one, The Prefect, the subject encounters an individual whose use of intimidation has affected the subject who was diagnosed with a mental illness in 2008.

Run Time: 11min

Synopsis: Episode two of a documentary series that looks at the misuse of authority and its effect on mental health.

Run Time: 15min

Synopsis: Somewhere Out There Tells a mythological based story of a young woman whom is an outsider searching for her soul mate.

Run Time: 4min

Synopsis: A short film about an individual named Simon, who briefly shares his thoughts about being institutionalized.

Run Time: 14min

Synopsis: A group of filmmakers living with mental illness reveal their views on stigma through a series of monologues and candid interviews.

Run Time: 16min

Synopsis: What masks do we wear? Who is allowed to see us without our masks? In this poetic film, participants are invited to create masks that represent their mental health struggles, talk about the stigma they’ve faced, and ultimately destroy these masks in act of resilience and recovery.

Run Time: 18min

Synopsis: What happens when the side effects of psychiatric medication are sometimes worse than the ailments they are trying to treat? This honest film documents the experiences of a group of mental health consumers, and insights from one of the leading researchers in pharmacology and mental health.

Run Time: 22min (Short)

Synopsis: Borderline Personality Disorder is one of the most stigmatized diagnoses among health care providers. Director Lindsay Yeatts sits down with people who live with the disorder, and people who work in the field, to talk about personal experiences and what healthcare providers can do better for their patients.

Run Time: 13min

Synopsis: In this short film, a group of individuals are asked about their experiences with social anxiety, in hopes that some of the myths and stigma around this diagnosis can be shattered.

Run Time: 16min

Synopsis: Lost Souls Reality is a silent graphic novel addressing current social and political issues. In this film, the artist speaks about his process behind Lost Souls Reality.

Run Time: 14min

Synopsis: Colours of the Street tells the story of an artist who lives with mental illness, and draws inspiration from an internal sense of self, rooted in the nature of the bear and femininity.