Irene’s Ghost is a stunning 6-years-in-the-making documentary that follows a son’s search to find out about the mother he never knew. Cunningham breaks the silence and tracks down his mother’s friends and family to rebuild a picture of her. Cunningham was three when his Mother Irene died. His Father never spoke of it and the family’s silence around Irene meant that she was alive only in Cunningham’s imagination as a thistle seed or in the image of the moon. The birth of his own child inspires a journey to discover the truth about Irene, piecing together fragments of the past to make sense of the present. Utilizing gorgeous animation alongside moving archival footage, Irene’s Ghost lovingly rebuilds Irene’s lost life.

Screening with

Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days
Regina Pessoa | 2019 | Canada | 13 mins | Toronto Premiere

Regina Pessoa’s latest animation beautifully illustrates her childhood memories of her charming and idiosyncratic uncle. This film is a testament of Pessoa’s love and admiration for her uncle’s unique spirit.

Motherhood

How does talking about (or not talking about) post-partum depression and post-partum psychosis impact women and families? After the screening of Irene’s Ghost, we will explore the complicated layers of how post-partum disorders are understood and felt personally as well as culturally through first hand experiences from women and professionals in discussion with the filmmaker.

Charlie is looking for happy, Remi is a struggling musician and bartender who has clinical depression, Jinx is a burlesque performer and PHD candidate who works at The Orange Balloon, and Minka, no one knows what Minka does. In This House is a play about four young adults living together in Toronto. It is a look into the epidemic of loneliness and depression among the Millennial generation and the daily struggle to make something of yourself in this city. In This House is a play about a generation, a city and an exact time in our lives. This is a play about how we save each other.

Written and Directed by Grace Thompson
Performed by: Astrid Atherly, Jonathan Sconza, Rosie Callaghan and Ciana Henderson
Stage Manager: Erin Maxfield
Set and Lighting Design: Lisa Van Oorschot
Sound Design: Shannon Farrell

Millennial Mental Health: a two-part conversation 

How are young people today talking about suicide? How are Millennials navigating their experiences with mental health and addictions? Join the cast of In this House after the shows on October 12 and October 15 as they discuss the production themes and their experiences navigating between being emerging artists, living on their own for the first time and managing their mental health. This two-part conversation will explore the unique difficulties for young people in Canada, and the communities of support being created as a response.