The Project
Generally, mental illness has been and is portrayed in films in a very negative way. Most of the cases, what matters in terms of scope is the taking advantage of the Mental Illness, showing us a stereotype, which is based on prejudice which allows for more stigma and discrimination of the person with mental problems.
In this project, we want to represent a family with a person with mental illness, where we intend to analyze the difficulties of the caregivers, the problem of stigma, the importance of the role of the nurse in terms of rehabilitation and help towards the people with mental problems and their caregiver family, and still try to emphasize the contribution of the person with mental illness in living positively integrated and part of a family.
Therefore, this story will be told by the point-of-view of the mum, a nurse used to taking care of other people, but who struggles to take care of her own son, thus exploring this vulnerable side of the caregiver, rarely explored in cinema.
In this project, we want to represent a family with a person with mental illness, where we intend to analyze the difficulties of the caregivers, the problem of stigma, the importance of the role of the nurse in terms of rehabilitation and help towards the people with mental problems and their caregiver family, and still try to emphasize the contribution of the person with mental illness in living positively integrated and part of a family.
Therefore, this story will be told by the point-of-view of the mum, a nurse used to taking care of other people, but who struggles to take care of her own son, thus exploring this vulnerable side of the caregiver, rarely explored in cinema.
LOGLINE: Months prior to getting into college, Dinis is diagnosed with schizophrenia. His mum has to take care of him and guarantee his safety, but at the same time she has to allow him to have a normal life like the other teenagers of his age.
GENRE: Drama / Family
RUNNING TIME: 19 minutes
SYNOPSIS: Dinis, like most of the teens his age, wishes to be independent and go to college, to escape his overprotective mum. But months before he can do it, he has a psychotic outbreak. Madalena suffers a lot seeing her son being victim of prejudice and the label of schizophrenic from friends and even family. She is a nurse, however helping others is a task much easier than helping her son. She wants Dinis to have a normal and healthy life, but by realizing the persistent stigma in society and her own impotence against mental illness, she falls in a spiral of depression, from which she can only set herself free when she will understand that to be able to take care of her son, first she has to take care of herself and that to let him have a normal life means she has to let him go to college. But will it be possible to have a normal life with a mental illness?
Characters:
GENRE: Drama / Family
RUNNING TIME: 19 minutes
SYNOPSIS: Dinis, like most of the teens his age, wishes to be independent and go to college, to escape his overprotective mum. But months before he can do it, he has a psychotic outbreak. Madalena suffers a lot seeing her son being victim of prejudice and the label of schizophrenic from friends and even family. She is a nurse, however helping others is a task much easier than helping her son. She wants Dinis to have a normal and healthy life, but by realizing the persistent stigma in society and her own impotence against mental illness, she falls in a spiral of depression, from which she can only set herself free when she will understand that to be able to take care of her son, first she has to take care of herself and that to let him have a normal life means she has to let him go to college. But will it be possible to have a normal life with a mental illness?
Characters:
- Madalena – 45, nurse and divorced mum of Dinis and Leonor. She takes care of her children alone, trying to balance work and family the best she can. She does everything for her kids and just wants the best for them, but this task becomes very hard when Dinis is diagnosed with schizophrenia, forcing her to understand that she doesn't really know what is best for her son. To truly be able to take care of him, she first needs to take care of herself.
- Dinis – 17, oldest son of Madalena and Rui. Adapting to high school wasn't easy and it got even harder when he had a psychotic outbreak and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, having to live with such label. Are his dreams of going to college still possible?
- Leonor – 10, sister of Dinis. Through her innocent eyes, we see the insane actions of her brother. She doesn't understand the situation very well and even starts to fear the brother she loves so much.
Electronic Press Kit
Click here to upload file | |
File Size: | 2200 kb |
File Type: |
WRITER’S STATEMENT:
"Inspired by the true stories of the difficulties not only suffered by the people with mental illness in Portugal, but also by their respective caregivers, this film has the goal to sensibilize people about mental illness, avoiding stigma and prejudice. We still live in a society where when someone does something different, is called "crazy". We have to change this type of thoughts."
"Inspired by the true stories of the difficulties not only suffered by the people with mental illness in Portugal, but also by their respective caregivers, this film has the goal to sensibilize people about mental illness, avoiding stigma and prejudice. We still live in a society where when someone does something different, is called "crazy". We have to change this type of thoughts."