As a reoccurring motif in film history, mental illness offers an opportunity to address societal and political topics. It reflects crises, traumas, and inconsistencies within our world of experience on an individual spiritual and mental level and outlines illness as a challenge of a performance-oriented society.

The film program includes current and historical works from international cinema, as well as contributions from over 20 guests, some of which are international, from the fields of scientific and psychotherapeutic work and film production. The program covers the entire span of the topic.

CITY 46 / Kommunalkino Bremen e.V. and the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen invite participants to investigate the diverse perspectives on film’s portrayal of mental illness.

Online Talks and Forums

In the keynote talks, Robin Curtis (Freiburg), Michele Aaron (Warwick), and the leading film scholar W. J. T. Mitchell (Chicago, visiting with his daughter, the filmmaker Carmen Elena Mitchell, L.A.) will discuss the imagery of insanity and the position of the afflicted subject between involvement, treatment, and self-empowerment.
Three forums will bring together 12 short talks. Amongst other topics, film-theoretical and psychological concepts will be contrasted and autobiographical film projects will be assessed in terms of their self-therapeutic potential. The program orients itself around the films addressed in the talks and will enable detailed insights into these examples.

Further Information:

The conference sessions will take place as video conferences during the event and will be open via the website to anyone interested.
The film schedule, information on the talks, and registration form can be found on the website: https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/film/film-culture/film-conference/current-conference

Contact:

Tobias Dietrich
Faculty of Cultural Studies
University of Bremen
Email: tobias.dietrichprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de