The Mindfulness Movement

Against the Tide

January 2021 •English

A remote and wild island on the west coast of Scotland is home to a small group of people that live in deep connection with the land, the sea and the weather. For different reasons, they left their city life to escape their inner demons and to live as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible.

Afraid of People

April 2002 •English

This documentary follows the lives of several extraordinary people who have been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. Through personal interviews, viewers learn about the symptoms, emotions, and challenges these people face and about the treatments available to help people on their road to recovery.

Unrest

October 2017 •English

When Harvard PhD student Jennifer Brea is struck down at 28 by a fever that leaves her bedridden, doctors tell her it’s "all in her head." Determined to live, she sets out on a virtual journey to document her story—and four other families' stories—fighting a disease medicine forgot.

The Bears on Pine Ridge

November 2022 •English

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has declared a “State of Emergency”, after an outbreak of youth suicides has devastated the community. Due to a lack of Federal assistance, residents have taken prevention efforts into their own hands. A tenacious Oglala Lakota elder takes charge, rallying the community to get involved, while empowering a resilient young group of suicide survivors to band together to help raise awareness.

La santé mentale : Une note à la fois

January 2021 •French

There is a strong link between singing and mental illness. This documentary tries to break down some prejudices by focusing on the music industry environment. To achieve this feat of awareness, without falling into moralization, popular artists from here lend themselves to the game of this therapy.

The First Woman

December 2021 •Spanish

Eva’s being allowed to leave the psychiatric institution she’s lived in for six years. After a long year of waiting, the news arrive: an assisted living residence is found for her. Eva takes the first steps towards the "normal" life she longs for: to find a job, earn an income of her own, visit her mother... even find love. While she’s taking stock of her past and works on her self-confidence as well as her trust in the outside world, she also fixes firmly on her main goal: to reconnect with the son she lost custody of 20 years ago and ask him to forgive her. The First Woman is a film about second chances, the search for "normality" and the borderline between lucidity and darkness.

Generation C

February 2022 •Dutch

Due to the measures taken by the government, students have fewer and fewer prospects for a meaningful future. Life is on pause and society is kept in fear. The confidence in a bright future is gone. Even after 18 months, there is still no light at the end of the tunnel. The many promises have not yet changed this situation. In this moving documentary, young people give an idea of the impact of the measures on their lives. Is there still hope or has the damage already been done?

Walk with Me

May 2017 •English

Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, Walk With Me is a cinematic journey into the world of a monastic community who practice the art of mindfulness with Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh.

When the Cows Come Home

July 2022 •English

When the Cows Come Home introduces audiences to Tilly and Maggie, a pair of cows that musician, journalist, artist and cow whisperer, Andrew Johnstone has befriended and subsequently saved from slaughter. The garrulous herdsman is enthusiastic to expound his views on animal husbandry, bovine communication and the vagaries of life in general, before the film walks us back through the events that have shaped the singular farmer-philosopher. From personal family tragedy to warring with Catholic school authorities, innovating in Hamilton’s nascent music scene to creating guerrilla art installations; Johnstone’s life has had a truly idiosyncratic trajectory. Mental health issues may have seen him retreat to life on the farm, but the film makes clear its subject’s restless inquisitiveness is far from being put out to pasture.

Connecting the Dots

November 2020 •English

Connecting the Dots takes on the subject of mental health through the voices of young people around the world.

Act Social

February 2021 •English

Civil discourse is vanishing from modern society. Improv comedians heal the divide in this documentary feature film starring Colin Mochrie (Whose Line is it, Anyway?) that explores the use of improvisation for conflict resolution. Republican Karl Rove performs improv with Colin Mochrie and endears himself to a room half-full with Democrats. Police officers do improv with local youth in order to learn listening skills. Dr. Daniel J. Wiener brings couples back from the brink of divorce using improv. Dr. Charles Limb places Second City improv comedians in a functional MRI machine to see what happens in the brain when we improvise.

Into Great Silence

September 2005 •German

An intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains). The idea for the film was proposed to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. The Carthusians finally contacted Gröning 16 years later to say they were now willing to permit Gröning to shoot the movie, if he was still interested.

King Lines

March 2007 •English

King Lines follows Chris Sharma on his search for the planet's greatest climbs. From South American fantasy boulders to the sweeping limestone walls of Europe, Sharma finds and climbs the hardest, most spectacular routes. Off the coast of Mallorca he discovers his most outrageous project yet, a 70 foot arch rising from the Mediterranean Sea...

Framing Britney Spears

February 2021 •English

Her rise was a global phenomenon. Her downfall was a cruel national sport. People close to Britney Spears and lawyers tied to her conservatorship now reassess her career as she battles her father in court over who should control her life.

Every Day After

August 2023 •English

Growing up in Masbate Province in the Philippines, Jary is neglected and shunned since the moment of his birth for one reason-- his appearance. His older sister, Jessa protects Jary through his early years, then takes him in as a young teen, to raise him alongside her own two children in a fragile house on a hill. Jessa seeks out the medical care Jary has been denied since birth. And more, the support to begin his physical and emotional recovery. Every Day After is a 35-minute documentary film that provides a more nuanced look at the complexities of the healing process we don’t often see. And honors the invisible labor of a sister whose love and action make it possible for Jary to experience the everyday joys and struggles of growing up.

Génération COVID

March 2021 •French

Fear

May 2009 •Dutch

In Fear, documentary filmmaker Michiel van Erp creates a collage of inhabitants of the city of Amsterdam who struggle with various anxiety disorders. Today, more patients with anxiety disorders seek professional help than those who suffer from depression, making anxiety the number one mental illness in the Netherlands. This film will show how a small number of those patients attempt to overcome their fears, in order to get on with their lives in the crowded cosmopolitan city that Amsterdam is today.

Song of Rapa Nui

November 2020 •English

This feature length documentary tells the story of Mahani Teave who grew up on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and left at age 9 to pursue her dream of being classical pianist-a journey that takes her from mainland Chile to The Cleveland Music Institute to Berlin and the great concert halls of Europe. At the age of 30, on the brink of international success, Teave gives up her career to pursue a new dream, coming back full circle to Rapa Nui to found a free music school for the island's children. The resulting school-named Toki, after the basalt tool once used to shape Easter Island's iconic sculptures-is a model of sustainability, incorporating tons of tires, bottles and Pacific Ocean plastic; surrounded by agri-environmental gardens to grow food. With Toki, Mahani hopes to shape a bold new future for Rapa Nui and inspire hope and change on Earth, our island home.

David Harewood: Psychosis and Me

May 2019 •English

David Harewood had a psychotic breakdown and was sectioned in his 20s. David traces his steps, meeting young people living with psychosis and the NHS professionals who treat them.

Alastair Campbell: Depression and Me

May 2019 •English

Alastair Campbell candidly talks about his experience living with depression and explores if radical new treatments can make a difference.