Stairway to Light

La Malesa

April 2023 •Catalan

Jana, a girl suffering from depression, escapes to her grandmother's country house in a desperate impulse to escape from her increasingly destructive thoughts. She is searching for the warmth emanating from her grandmother Helena and the home that saw her grow up between summers and holidays, but nothing tears her away from her unease. The forest that surrounds the house further immerses Jana in her loneliness, taking her to the limits of her own darkness.

A Way in the Wilderness

June 1940 •English

This Passing Parade entry tells the story of Dr. Joseph Goldberger (1874-1929), a Hungarian immigrant who devoted his life to finding the cause of pellagra, a disease that killed hundreds of thousands in the southern United States. Although the medical community believed that the condition was caused by a virus, Goldberger proved that a healthy diet was the cure.

My First Year

September 2023 •English

Four students from different backgrounds face new realities of a new life at university. They must adapt to the environment dictated to them in their course in the first year.

He Was a Quiet Man

November 2007 •English

An unhinged office worker who planned to go on a shooting spree at his workplace struggles with his newfound status as a hero after he ends up stopping a shooting spree instead.

The Face Behind the Mask

March 1938 •English

This dramatized short film describes the historical mystery of France's "man in the iron mask". King Louis XIV imprisoned a man who was never identified, but who was forced to wear an iron mask for the length of his captivity, which ended only in his death. Several candidates for the identity of the man are investigated.

Under Stress

January 1964 •English

Shows new methods in treating those afflicted with mental health issues. Contrasts past treatment regimes where people were locked away out of sight with the new, 1960s, psychiatric ideas of "group therapy" and talking therapy. Also shows practical behaviours aimed at returning patients to productive lives in society and outpatient services.

Ábreme

May 2024 •English

The collision between two cultures explodes in one household as all three wait for Javier's immigration papers. A dark comedy that explores immigration, mental health and the magnetism hiding as aversion.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

March 1988 •Spanish

Pepa resolves to kill herself with a batch of sleeping-pill-laced gazpacho after her lover leaves her. Fortunately, she is interrupted by a deliciously chaotic series of events.

The Professor and the Madman

March 2019 •English

Professor James Murray begins work compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid 19th century, and receives over 10,000 entries from a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr. William Minor.

Broken People

February 2023 •English

Brett and Jake meet in a bar and decide to drown their sorrows in whiskey, forgetting the past, ignoring the future, and exploring life, love, and tragedy together for one fateful night.

Exergo

May 2024 •Basque

Departing from peripheral details of some paintings of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, a female narrator unravels several stories related to the economic, social and psychological conditions of past and current artists.

The Woman in the House

May 1942 •English

This short looks at the illness anthropophobia, the fear of people. In 1901, young Catherine Starr, who lives in a small English coastal town, has an argument with her fiancé. He leaves her house, goes off to serve in the Boer War, and dies of malaria. Catherine blames herself for his death and fears others will also blame her. She does not leave her house for forty years. Groceries are delivered to the house, but no one sees who retrieves them. When the Nazis bomb her house in September 1941, she is forced to cope with the outside world.

Petrichor

January 2020 •English

A suicidal twenty-something is dragged on a night out, by his party animal lodger, to cheer him up. What could possibly go wrong?

Juan

June 2023 •Spanish

An Angel at My Table

September 1990 •English

Based on the autobiographical work of New Zealand writer Janet Frame, this production depicts the author at various stage of her life. Afflicted with mental and emotional issues, Frame grows up in an impoverished family and experiences numerous tragedies while still in her youth, including the deaths of two of her siblings. Portrayed as an adult by Kerry Fox, Frame finds acclaim for her writing while still in a mental institution, and her success helps her move on with her life.

Okay, Bye

Invalid date •English

A woman. A phone call. A reality unspoken.

Greta Garbo: Leave Me Alone

Invalid date •English

An urgent, timely and compelling portrait of Hollywood icon Greta Garbo, whose fame, isolation and loneliness still captures us.

Barefoot

March 2005 •German

A hedonistic bachelor - he is his rich family's black sheep - falls for a suicidal mental patient.

Nightmares

March 2022 •English

Of Pups and Puzzles

September 1941 •English

This short film shows how the war department utilizes a Ph.D., a chimp, and three dogs to help design aptitude tests for men applying for work.