BIGGER THAN TRAUMA
Vedrana Pribacic | 2022 | Croatia | 90 minutes | Croatian with English subtitles

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the extraordinary documentary film Bigger Than Trauma directed by Vedrana Pribacic available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

The brutal Croatian War of Independence came to an end in 1995, but survivors of the conflict continue to feel its devastating effects almost 30 years later. Justice has been slow in coming–if it comes at all–and institutional supports are few and far between, particularly for women who continue to live side-by-side with the very men who captured, tortured and raped them. 

Vedrana Pribacic’s Bigger Than Trauma is an intimate portrait of a group of Serbian and Croatian women who join a groundbreaking and unconventional therapy group to break their long-held silences, share their individual experiences and empower them to begin the long road to healing. However, their journey is not without its fair share of obstacles of pain revisited, cultural friction and resentment. In this tender setting, his documentary gives voice to the oft-forgotten and ignored victims of war for their own self-determination after trauma. 

Screening with
Yaren and the Sun | 2021 | Joren Slaets, Renate Raman | Belgium | 19 minutes | Dutch with English subtitles 

Yaren’s mother died when she was six. Her friend Kato’s father died a year ago. Yet the atmosphere in a therapeutic summer camp is far from mournful when one of the supervisors dances with a girl to the lively song “La Bamba.” It’s fine to have fun, the children learn—it can coexist with sadness.

Keywords: Women’s Issues | Trauma | War | Mutual Aid | Healing
Genre: Documentary (feature) Documentary (short)
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

LES PRIÈRES DE DELPHINE | DELPHINE’S PRAYERS | Rosine Mbakam | 2021 | Belgium / Cameroon | 91 minutes | Toronto Premiere | French with English Subtitles

On October 28th at Rendezvous With Madness enjoy an in person screening of the film Les Prières De Delphine/ Delphine’s Prayers directed by Rosine Mbakam. The event features a post-film talk with the director.

Les Prières De Delphine/ Delphine’s Prayers is a brutal and intimate portrait by Rosine Mbakam, a Cameroonian filmmaker based in Belgium who introduces us to her friend and compatriot Delphine, a young Cameroonian girl who after the death of her mother and the abandonment of her father’s parental responsibilities, was raped at the age of 13. She engages with sex work to support herself and her daughter and ends up marrying a Belgian man who is three times her age, hoping to find a better life in Europe. Seven years later, the European dream has faded and her situation has only gotten worse. Delphine, like others, is part of a generation of young African women crushed by patriarchal societies and left with Western sexual colonization as the only means of survival. Winner of the IndieLisboa Award for best film, Les prières de Delphine is a candid story of courage and strength in the face of racism, misogyny and poverty.

For accessibility Les Prières De Delphine | Delphine’s Prayers is also available online via Workman Arts & Cinesend from October 27th to November 6th 2022  

Keywords: Domestic Violence | Racism | Family | Generational Trauma | Colonialism
Genre: Documentary
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

HOW TO SAVE A DEAD FRIEND  
Marusya Syroechkovskaya | 2022 | Sweden, Norway, France, Germany | 103 minutes | Russian with English subtitles | Ontario Premiere

OPENING NIGHT FILM

On October 27th enjoy Rendezvous With Madness opening night film How To Save A Dead Friend by Marusya Syroechkovskaya.  Filmed over the course of 12 years, this film is a personal cry from the heart and a message from a silenced generation. It is an unbreakable love story existing in a destructible world. Post Film talk featuring the director.

How To Save A Dead Friend, it’s 2005, and Russia is governed by leaders who are keen to uplift their authoritarian dream. Millennial suicides have become omnipresent — a last act of self-will among a generation denied the chance to envision a better future. Marusya, 16, has decided this will be her year to die.

Muzzled by the increasingly autocratic regime of the “Depression Federation,” Marusya decides to join her generation’s suicide statistics by the end of the year. Then, she meets Kimi and an unexpected love story begins between the two millennials caught in the undertow of their oppressive government. Together, Marusya and Kimi film the euphoria, anxiety and despair of their youth, burning the candle at both ends fueled by drugs and music. When Kimi’s addiction threatens to make him fade away forever, Marusya’s camera becomes her last chance to save some part of his fragile soul.

For accessibility How To Save A Dead Friend is also available online via Workman Arts & Cinesend from October 27, 8 PM – 12 AM ET across Canada; October 28 – November 6 in Ontario

Keywords:  Suicide | Addiction | Authoritarianism | Youth | Depression
Genre: Documentary
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

WHEN WE REACH OUT, WHO SHOULD RESPOND?

Luke Galati | 2022 | Canada | 57 Minutes | English | 

Saturday, November 5th at Rendezvous With Madness come enjoy an in-person screening of the film When We Reach Out, Who Will Respond directed by Luke Galati.

After the film, stay for a dynamic conversation about police brutality and mental health crisis response as it relates to the city of Toronto and its community.

Featured speakers: Luke Galati, activist Desmond Cole, Director & Principal Consultant at Policing-Free Schools Andrea Vásquez Jiménez and the manager of the Toronto Community Crisis Service pilot at Gerstein Crisis Centre Andrea Westbrook; conversation moderated by Asante Haughton.

Toronto filmmaker Luke Galati’s documentary When We Reach Out, Who Should Respond? was born out of a tense interaction he had with police during a bipolar episode. In the documentary, he follows his own mental health journey in an effort to change emergency response and to end mental illness stigma.  

The film spotlights the Toronto Community Crisis Service, a pilot service responding to mental health-related calls with nurses and crisis workers, rather than police officers. When We Reach Out, Who Should Respond?  examines the need for alternative crisis response models through a series of interviews with politicians, activists, and crisis workers advocating for change. Galati’s thoughtful documentary invites audiences to engage in a necessary conversation about compassionate alternatives to police intervention during a mental health crisis.

Screening with
Hanging On | Alfie Barker | 2021 | United Kingdom | 16 minutes | English
A creative documentary spotlighting the strength of a community united when faced with eviction.

For accessibility When We Reach Out, Who Will Respond is also available online via Workman Arts & Cinesend from October 27th to November 6th 2022

Keywords: Police Violence | Bipolar Disorder | Systemic Racism | Class
Genre: Documentary (feature) Documentary (short)
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

EAT YOUR CATFISH
Adam Isenberg, Noah Amir Arjomand, Senem  Tüzen | 2021 | United States, Spain, Turkey  | 70 minutes | English | Canadian Premiere  

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the Canadian premiere of the documentary film Eat Your Cat Fish directed by Adam Isenberg, Noah Amir Arjomand, Senem Tüzen available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

Years with ALS have left Kathryn paralyzed and needing 24-hour care. With her mind intact and having opted for mechanical breathing, she could live like this indefinitely. But the situation has embittered and alienated her husband, Said, and proved too much for many nurses and aides. Her grown son Noah, who lives with Kathryn and Said in their New York City apartment, struggles to balance his academic obligations with those he feels he has to his mother. Kathryn often falls into despair, but she has been holding on to see her daughter’s wedding day. 

This project draws on 930 hours of footage filmed with a fixed camera from Kathryn’s point of view, without any crew present.  The result is a profoundly intimate, layered and wryly funny portrait of a family at its breaking point.

Keywords: ALS | Disability | Family | Chronic Illness | Mental Health
Genre: Documentary
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

DE PÅRØRENDE – NÅR ENS BARN RAMMES AF PSYKISK SYGDOM / LOVE BOUND: WHEN YOUR CHILD BECOMES MENTALLY ILL
Vibe Mogensen | 2021 | Denmark | 52 minutes | Danish with English subtitles | North American Premiere

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the extraordinary documentary film Love Bound: When Your Child Becomes Mentally Ill directed by Vibe Mogensen available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

Director Vibe Mogensen’s documentary, Love Bound: When Your Child Becomes Mentally Ill takes viewers behind closed doors to experience intimate group therapy sessions for empathic and stressed parents. Many of the caregivers featured in the film have children who will require specialized care throughout their entire lives. The parents struggle to maintain their own health, careers and social lives while meeting their kids’ unique needs – schizophrenia, ADHD, bipolar disorder and suicidal ideation.

This revealing documentary is uplifting, heartbreaking and unapologetically honest. Love Bound: When Your Child Becomes Mentally Ill delivers a touching reminder of what the superhuman levels of inner strength people are capable of when they have others to lean on.

Screening with

Ousmane | Jorge Camarotti | 2021 | Canada | 25 minutes | French with English Subtitles

Ousmane, a newly arrived immigrant living in Montreal, faces a challenging situation when he meets an elderly disoriented woman at the end of his workday.

Keywords: Suicide | Schizophrenia | Bipolar Disorder | Caregiver
Genre: Documentary 
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

I DIDN’T SEE YOU THERE
Reid Davenport | 2022 | United States | 76 minutes | English

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present outstanding documentary film I Didn’t See You There directed by Reid Davenport  available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

Filmmaker Reid Davenport won the Sundance Documentary Directing Award for his feature-length directorial debut for I Didn’t See You There. This film unflinchingly explores the effects “othering” has on the disabled – from the days of the “Freak Show”, to a modern society that continues to neglect and isolate the population – all framed through Davenport’s literal perspective in his wheelchair. Inspired by the sudden appearance of a circus tent near his Oakland apartment, Davenport sets out to examine the legacy of showmen like P.T. Barnum, while observing the lack of access, objectification and other forms of ableism he personally experiences with his family in Connecticut and at home as an artist in California. From construction and maintenance that impedes his mobility to the incredible inconvenience of “conveniences” put in place for wheelchair users, to the unsolicited offers of help and careless blocking of ramps, I Didn’t See You There forces audiences to re-examine their own cultural perspectives and confront what it truly means to be “othered” within today’s world.

Keywords: Isolation | Disability | Othering | Mental Health | Perspective
Genre: Documentary 
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

VIVRE EN GRAND | BIGGER THAN US
Flore Vasseur | 2021 | France | 95 minutes | English 

How does one keep it together in a world coming apart at the seams? Climate change ravages the planet as greedy corporations keep polluting the environment at an unsustainable rate. With much of the global population living like there’s no tomorrow, fighting for change can feel pointless. Writer-director Flore Vasseur’s documentary, Bigger Than Us, offers viewers reason to remain hopeful.

Bigger Than Us follows 18-year-old Indonesian activist Melati Wijsen on her quest to meet with the 18 to 25-year-olds fighting for change. Melati heads to Lebanon, Malawi, Greece, the United States, Brazil and Uganda, to celebrate the activists fighting for free speech, food security and equal rights. These defiant young people refuse to let soulless corporations and self-interested politicians dictate their future. This beautifully shot documentary will shock, inspire and most importantly, leave viewers hopeful about the future. 

Yaren’s mother died when she was six. Her friend Kato’s father died a year ago. Yet the atmosphere in a therapeutic summer camp is far from mournful when one of the supervisors dances with a girl to the lively song “La Bamba.” It’s fine to have fun, the children learn—it can coexist with sadness.

Keywords: Climate Change | Women’s Rights | Refugee Crisis
Genre: Documentary (feature) Documentary (short)
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

GEMMEL & TIM
Michiel Thomas | 2021 | United States | 91 minutes | English

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the award-winning documentary film Gemmel & Tim directed by Michiel Thomas  available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

In the span of 18 months, two gay Black men died of drug overdoses inside the West Hollywood home of political donor Ed Buck. Yet, it was four years (and many public protests) before a federal jury convicted Buck for his crimes. Writer-director Michiel Thomas’s documentary Gemmel & Tim tells the story of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, the two men who died in Buck’s home under suspicious circumstances.

Throughout the film, their family and friends reminisce about their lives and share the shocking details surrounding their deaths. The film paints a touching portrait of love and regret as friends and family come to grips with the tragic loss of their loved ones. Gemmel & Tim is also a scathing indictment of America’s broken justice system, calling out the blatant racial inequalities persisting decades after the abolition of Jim Crow.

Screening with

Lay Me By The Shore | David Findlay | 2022 | Canada | 18 minutes | English

Introducing a young cast of first-time actors, Lay Me by the Shore follows a week in the life of Noah, a high school senior in his final days of school as he comes to terms with his best friend’s passing. Bathed in the warm light of long June days and with the intimidating spectre of an unknown future looming, the tale is told from the perspective of the recently departed. Through the prism of grief, the film highlights the raw and potent emotions of youth.

Keywords: Addictions | Racism | Class | Overdose | Trauma
Genre: Documentary (feature) Documentary (short)
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

二〇二〇年的一场雨  |  RAIN IN 2020  
Lee Yong Chao | 2021 | Myanmar, Taiwan  | 79 mins | Burmese and Chinese with English Subtitles | Canadian Premiere 

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the extraordinary documentary film Rain In 2020 directed by Lee Yong Chao available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

Rain in 2020 took director Lee Yong Chao seven years to make. It intimately documents a family coping with the constantly changing situations in Myanmar. Amid the pandemic in 2020, a torrential rain caused the family and the entire village to live their daily lives in the flooding sewage. Nobody knows when the muddy water will be gone and what will come after the storm. 

“At the beginning of 2020, I was in the process of filming The Bad Man in Myanmar. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 forced me to stay at home. Meanwhile, I was suffering from some health issues when the tragedy of a major fatal collapse of a jade mine in Pakant, I could do nothing but worry every single day about my brother who worked in the mine. Month after month, the pandemic in Myanmar became more and more out of control, which prevented me from returning to Taiwan. Various factors interweaving, triggered my anger and doubts toward things which happened in Myanmar society in recent years. In mid-September, there was a sudden rainfall. Along with the flood, I let out my long accumulated dissatisfaction with people’s daily life in my hometown in Myanmar over the years.” – Lee Yong Chao

Keywords: Environmental Catastrophe | Dictatorship | Pandemic | Anxiety | Resource Extraction
Genre: Documentary
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion