My Year of Living Mindfully

In his new film, Erwin Wagenhofer is looking for the good and beautiful in this world.

For those who electrical sensitivity, there aren’t many places to seek refuge. In a remote part of West Virginia, the so-called National Radio Quiet Zone offers one such escape.

The Laddakhis, high up in the Western Himalayas, have a strong connection to the psychic energies of the gods and demons through their belief in Tantric Buddhism. People in the valley say of the Geshe (a methaphysical professor) that he can fly if he wants to. But using magic is immoral for the Buddhist. Nevertheless, a young man seduces the woman of his desire with magical powers. In a breathtaking landscape under a crystal-clear blue sky, a life unfolds in harmony with the universe, carried by an ancient consciousness.

Documentary approach follows six people (and a robot) who transform their lives using stillness and mindfulness.

ZAAD tells the autobiographical story of Dries Meddens. After the death of his mother, the care for Dries' bipolar father falls on his plate. He discovers how crudely and ruthlessly society and psychiatry treat patients. His father eventually dies in solitary confinement. While emptying his parent’s home, Dries discovers an old letter from his grandfather. The man appears to have led a busy, productive life. He is the founder of an internationally renowned seed breeding company and still has time to paint, write diaries and conduct intensive correspondence. Dries finds similarities between his grandfather, his father and himself. Slowly the fear grows that his father's psychiatric illness might be hereditary. Strolling through the family’s film and photo archives, with dramatic and sometimes hilarious finds, Dries tries to find answers. He also consults a psychiatrist. Together the consultations and reviewing of his archival material help Dries look at bipolarity with new eyes.

On June 13, 1978, the punk bands the Cramps and the Mutants played a free show for psychiatric patients at the Napa State Hospital in California. We Were There to Be There chronicles the people, politics, and cultural currents that led to the show and its live recording.

A profile of two men who go to exceptional lengths to improve – and in some cases, save – the lives of those with nowhere else to turn. They risk their freedom by supplying black market medicinal cannabis to thousands suffering from chronic and terminal illnesses.

A view of the religious tensions between Muslims and Buddhist through the portrait of the Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu, leader of anti-Muslim movement in Myanmar.

It’s the second semester of junior year for Pierce “Sparni” Sparnroft, a gifted jazz vibraphonist studying at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Sparni’s prospects on the vibes were rejuvenated by their new professor, the world-renowned Steve Nelson, and are to be showcased during a student-driven recital in May 2023. But all the while, Sparni must face a crisis within.

Diam's, the beloved icon of French rap, gave up everything at the height of her success. The young woman experienced a real descent into hell: depression, loneliness, and disillusionment in the face of suffocating fame. On the brink of disaster, she found refuge in religion. Rare archives, memorable music videos, and previously unseen testimonials reveal the violence of her success and her vital need to disappear in order to rebuild herself, choosing the shadows after the light.

Four-time Emmy winner John Kastner was granted unprecedented access to the Brockville facility for 18 months, allowing 46 patients and 75 staff to share their experiences with stunning frankness. The result is two remarkable documentaries: the first, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible, premiered at Hot Docs in the spring of 2013 and follows the story of a violent patient released into the community. The second film, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, returns to the Brockville Mental Health Centre to profile four patients, two men and two women, as they struggle to gain control over their lives so they can return to a society that often fears and demonizes them.

Women's college basketball player Chamique Holdsclaw battles mental illness.