Blue Room

Bedlam

January 2019 •English

A psychiatrist makes rounds in ERs, jails, and homeless camps to tell the intimate stories behind one of the greatest social crises of our time. A personal and intense journey into the world of the seriously mentally ill.

From Local to Social

January 2024 •English

Using local media footage from the London Borough of Southwark spanning the past 20 years, this documentary discusses complex social issues including gang violence, knife crime, and mental and sexual health.

The Big One

September 1997 •English

The Big One is an investigative documentary from director Michael Moore who goes around the country asking why big American corporations produce their product abroad where labor is cheaper while so many Americans are unemployed, losing their jobs, and would happily be hired by such companies as Nike.

13th

October 2016 •English

An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

L'Europe à la reconquête de la biodiversité

May 2019 •French

Alternate Spaces

December 2022 •English

A short documentary on the River Ouse, following it downstream from Lewes to Newhaven, meditating on the surrounding area.

The Bridge

October 2006 •English

The Bridge is a controversial documentary that shows people jumping to their death from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco - the world's most popular suicide destination. Interviews with the victims' loved ones describe their lives and mental health.

A Point of Return

January 1964 •English

A short film portrays the events of a depressed man's day, culminating, presumably, in his suicide, though the ending is ambiguous. Afterwards, a roundtable of mental hygiene professionals and social workers examine the film, while discussing the phenomenon of suicide more broadly.

Mind Games - The Experiment

January 2023 •English

Can exercise sharpen the brightest minds? In this ground-breaking experiment, four world-class gamers, competing in eSports, Chess, Mahjong and Memory Games, put this to the test.

Defending Our Lives

March 1994 •English

Documentary about the magnitude and severity of domestic violence. This film features four women imprisoned for killing their batterers and their terrifying personal testimonies. It won an Oscar at the 66th Academy Awards in 1994 for Documentary Short Subject.

Bob Ross: The Happy Painter

December 2011 •English

A behind-the-scenes look at the beloved public television personality's journey from humble beginnings to an American pop-culture icon. "The Happy Painter" reveals the public and private sides of Bob Ross through loving accounts from close friends and family, childhood photographs and rare archival footage. Interviewees recount his gentle, mild-mannered demeanor and unwavering dedication to wildlife, and disclose little-known facts about his hair, his fascination with fast cars and more. Film clips feature Bob Ross with mentor William Alexander and the rough-cut of the first "Joy of Painting" episode from 1982. Famous Bob Ross enthusiasts, including talk-show pioneer Phil Donahue, film stars Jane Seymour and Terrence Howard, chef Duff Goldman and country music favorites Brad Paisley and Jerrod Niemann, provide fascinating insights into the man, the artist and his legacy.

Mental as Everything

July 2021 •English

Damon Smith has estimated that he has spent around 50,000 hours of his life, so far, participating in absurd ritualistic behaviours associated with his obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). With a diagnosis of both, OCD and Bipolar Disorder, and with the help of his anxious friend, Adam Coad, these Australian singer-songwriters share, through original music, preposterous humour, and outlandish animations, the intricate and debilitating nature of what it is like to live and talk about mental illness in a world where it’s ok to talk about a broken arm, but not ok to talk about a broken mind.

The Hasty Man Drinks His Tea with a Fork

January 2003 •English

A blend of drama and documentary, this film follows several people caught up in the turmoil of the modern world. The drama centres on a woman who has burned out and who holds up her own despair – and her attempts to rebuild her life – as a mirror to the rest of us. With a blend of gravity and humour, Sylvie Groulx's film shows the absurdity of a society dedicated to the cult of speed at all costs.

The Way Things Go

June 1987 •English

Artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss create the ultimate Rube Goldberg machine. The pair used found objects to construct a complex, interdependent contraption in an empty warehouse. When set in motion, a domino-like chain reaction ripples through the complex of imaginative devices. Fire, water, the laws of gravity, and chemistry determine the life-cycle of the objects. The process reveals a story concerning cause and effect, mechanism and art, and improbability and precision, in an extended science project that will mesmerize the mind.

You Just Need a Walk.

December 2022 •English

Five subjects from Gen-Z take the PHQ-9 - a survey to assess the degree of one's depression severity. They -also- have a lot to say.

Extreme Consequences: The Reality of Prison Life

January 2007 •English

A compelling look at the choices that lead to incarceration and the reality of being locked up in Pelican Bay State Prison.

The Devil's Island: Journey Into Jungle Alcatraz

August 2001 •English

Imagine the prison of Alcatraz, only 10 times worse, built on tropical, hellish and deadly islands, lost to the rest of the world. Three tiny castaway islands rise away from the coast of French Guyana, in South America: The Devil's Islands. Now buried under an impenetrable jungle, lay the lost remains of what had been for a hundred years the most storied convict prison in history. There, while most of the prisoners faded into oblivion, a few became legends. Some because they were innocent, as in the scandalous Dreyfus Affair, some because they somehow escaped the islands of nightmare, as did the "butterfly", Henry Charrière, immortalized by Steve McQueen in Papillon. Now 50 years after the prison doors slammed shut for the last time, we explore what's left of the Devil's Islands' unbelievably dark and oppressive realm.

Picturesque India or, In and About Calcutta

January 1913 •English

Botanical gardens in Bombay plus the highly decorative Jain Temple in Calcutta.

Kanye West: 'Jesus Is King' and Iconic Sunday Service

October 2019 •English

Kanye West meets with Zane Lowe to discuss his highly anticipated 'Jesus Is King' album and film. Kanye discusses his newfound faith in God, how the public perceived his battle with mental health and the process of creating a new style of music. Take a glimpse into one of the most creative minds in music.

Tigres : Le Making of

April 2024 •English