PROJECTIONS: Cinematic representations of mental illness

This six week evening course may be of interest to those within reach of the Freud museum in London.

Guy de Maupassant once said, “A sick thought can devour the body's flesh more than fever or consumption.” Mental illness is one of the leading causes of the overall disease burden worldwide. Depression, anxiety and substance abuse are reported to be among the main drivers of disability in Western countries. It is estimated that one in six adults has suffered from a common mental disorder.

The cinema is a chronicler of transformation; it supplies an alchemical lexicon to reveal the soul’s sublime dreams, as well as a useful mode of expression for the pain endured by a fragmented mind. Compared to other art forms, the film medium possesses a unique capacity to showcase the complexity of human emotion and so occupies a privileged position in conveying the subjective experience of mental disturbance.

In this new course by MARY WILD, a selection of films portraying psychiatric diagnoses will be explored, with information provided on the emergence and development of distinct clinical categories featuring anxiety, depression, psychosis, amnesia, addiction and sociopathy. In addition to in-depth content analysis of visual material, there will be a platform to discuss the role of moving image culture in shaping public perception and social attitudes in relation to psychological distress.

Advance viewing is optional, select scenes and montages will be shown during weekly sessions:

Week 1 - ANXIETY: Safe, Adaptation, The Invitation

Week 2 - DEPRESSION: Closed Curtain, Three Colours Blue, Melancholia

Week 3 - PSYCHOSIS: Coherence, The Machinist, Black Swan

Week 4 - AMNESIA: Paris Texas, Mysterious Skin, The Bourne Identity

Week 5 - ADDICTION: Shame, Requiem For A Dream, Factory Girl

Week 6 - SOCIOPATHY: Maniac, The Dark Knight, Irrational Man

PROJECTIONS is psychoanalysis for film interpretation. PROJECTIONS empowers film spectators to express subjective associations they consider to be meaningful. Expertise in psychoanalytic theory is not necessary - the only prerequisite is the desire to enter and inhabit the imaginary world of film, which is itself a psychoanalytic act. MARY WILD, a Freudian cinephile from Montreal, is the creator of PROJECTIONS.

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