Film Categories: Mental Health

  • Methylenedioxymethamphetamine

    Using macro cinematography, “Methylenedioxymethamphetamine” documents the landscape of the drug MDMA. The combination of reflective abstractions with techno music creates an eerie meditation on rave culture.

  • Absence is Presence

    Jelena, a young woman from Serbia who has a Bachelor degree in Economics, has been in Canada for a year. Without Canadian experience she works through so called “survival jobs” making her feel homesick. Her mother, Rada, comforts her in long Internet Skype calls telling her that she can always come back. One day, while walking her dog, Rada has a stroke in the streets of Belgrade. When she wakes up in the emergency she finds out that she has lost her dog and that her health issues might be more serious. Hiding the truth of her illness and the…

  • Augury (Full Version)

    Through augury a city is founded: the bridge, the temple, the tower, the burial ground. Guided by an original soundtrack of Appalachian dirges and drones, eight connected works contemplate the history of, and possible responses to, technophilia. Using handheld and macro video, family super 8 and archival footage, Augury explores the fissures in constructed space for signs of personhood, care, and the possibility of a shared pre-linguistic ground. At each site, various strategies of ethical engagement are suggested: wait out the techno-enthrallment, unconceal the ancient myths, map alternative narratives, breathe through the machine, or seed wilderness in the cracks. Beneath…

  • Levitation Road (Part 01 of Augury)

    A bridge, to hold firm, demands a human sacrifice: the architect’s wife. Guided by an original soundtrack of Appalachian dirges and drones, this is the first of eight connected works which contemplate the history of, and possible responses to, technophilia. Through augury a city is founded: the bridge, the temple, the tower, the burial ground. Using handheld and macro video, family super 8 and archival footage, Augury explores the fissures in constructed space for signs of personhood, care, and the possibility of a shared pre-linguistic ground. At each site, various strategies of ethical engagement are suggested: wait out the techno-enthrallment,…

  • Skyport (Part 04 of Augury)

    Immanuel Kant’s wager: the moral law within and the heavens above. Fear, flight and infinity, post 9/11. Guided by an original soundtrack of Appalachian dirges and drones, this is the fourth of eight connected works which contemplate the history of, and possible responses to, technophilia. Through augury a city is founded: the bridge, the temple, the tower, the burial ground. Using handheld and macro video, family super 8 and archival footage, Augury explores the fissures in constructed space for signs of personhood, care, and the possibility of a shared pre-linguistic ground. At each site, various strategies of ethical engagement are…

  • The Lunatic

    ” The Lunatic ” is a (non) romantic comedy in which the lead role, Luna, is systematically abandoned by all partners and maddens transformed into the deranged woman who gives title to the short film.

  • Dust In The Sky

    Life crafts her creations with love and with care. When Death repeatedly takes those creations away, Life becomes upset and asks Death to leave, only to find that without Death, she has no way of continuing to create…

  • Tear Jerker

    Elliot can’t cry and he needs to. He’s recently been dumped by his ex- girlfriend, who has decided she wants to exclusively date “real” men. His mother is descending deeper and deeper into the progression of her Alzheimer’s disease. And the testosterone he takes regularly seems to have made his body forget how to grieve. “Tear Jerker” is a portrait of a transgender guy faced with difficult life circumstances trying to find new ways to express old and familiar feelings.

  • A Doll’s Eyes

    In his personal essay film, filmmaker Jonathan Wysocki searches for the meaning behind his lifelong obsession with the movie ‘Jaws.’ Wysocki recounts the terror that kept him out of the ocean during his childhood and the dark desire that drew him back as an adult. He returns to the ocean to discover a fear deeper than the shark stalking his imagination.

  • Persistence of Memory

    A skilled programmer commences work for Galatea, a robotics company launching the next generation of personal companions. Unlike generic robot companions, the C-1000 is made to a client’s precise specifications, which either give the companion a unique personality and complex individuality, or replicate those of someone else…  Against the backdrop of activist protests over outsourcing emotional connection, the programmer brings a C-1000 “to life” through trial and error. Using photographs as her guide, she trains the artificial companion to adopt the mannerisms of its original, from the basics, like holding a pen and writing, to advance concepts, like flirtation and…