Illuminate

Subtitled, Documentary

“Averroès” and “Rosa Parks” are two psychiatric units in Paris. They belong to the same network as the “Adamant”, the floating day clinic on the river Seine at the heart of Nicolas Philibert’s film Sur l’Adamant, winner of the Golden Bear at the 2023 Berlinale. Because it is an immersion in human complexity and frailty, the film is many things in turns: beautiful, profound, touching, astonishing, hilarious. What it always is, is interesting.

A further exploration of Nicolas Philibert’s work on psychiatry, the third segment of this trilogy – The Typewriter and Other Headaches – is proposed to you as part of our Online Selection, and available from Nov 9 to Nov 17.

SAT 9 | ARC CINEMA , | 14:15

Subtitled, Documentary

Have you ever felt a sense of revolt build up against the unfair demands placed on little boys who, asked to “man up”, must forever swallow their sadness and their urge to confide?

Director Duncan Cowles takes us on a both serious and humorous journey through male mental health, stigma and taboo in the UK. Decided to confront his own struggles with opening up to loved ones, and acknowledging that deeply rooted patterns are passed on from one generation to the next, the filmmaker leans on a handful of men close to him who accept to answer his questions about the difficulty to show and express their emotions. The subject matter itself would make Silent Men, and the panel discussion that will follow its screening, worth your while.

But Duncan Cowles also happens to make the most of his medium of choice and of its capacity to directly access the mind and heart of viewers. In a nutshell, to ideally assist him in multiplying tenfold shy attempts at conveying ideas and emotions. Some of the filmmaker’s wild and inventive constructions appear effortless and spontaneous and gift us with moments of utter movie magic!

A panel discussion will follow the screening on Sunday, 10 November, with filmmaker Duncan Cowles and guests.

SUN 10 | TRISKEL | 17:30

TUE 12 | ARC CINEMA | 21:00

Subtitled, Fiction

21-year-old Simón (Lorenzo Ferro in a breakthrough performance) is a bit of a loner. One day, he spontaneously joins a group of disabled young people on a windswept mountainside. They immediately accept the non-disabled Simón into their ranks and he becomes friends with Pehuen. Together, they navigate a world not designed for them, inventing their own rules for love and happiness.

Simón accepts Pehuen’s help to obtain an official disability card, which would enable him to stay with the group and receive regular state aid. But for this, Simón must undergo a psychiatric assessment by the authorities. In the eyes of his concerned mother, what he is becoming is stubborn, uncooperative.. an “idiot” who imitates the bahavioral patterns of his new friends. Is his reinvention sincere? Is Simón a fake? Is the new Simón who he truly was all along?  Federico Luis’s astonishing, thought-provoking film was crowned in Cannes with the Critics Week’s Best Film award.

SUN 10 | ARC CINEMA | 18:00