We are delighted to be working with Bristol Health Partners for the first time on this new season exploring Psychosis on Screen, to mark the launch of a health team to help improve the lives of people who experience psychosis in Bristol.

As part of the season, we are screening three contemporary films depicting various experiences of psychosis, aiming to uncover their creativity and to develop a shared, more human understanding of these sometimes frightening experiences.

The season ties in with the launch of the Bristol Psychosis Health Integration Team, which aims to improve the support, treatment, services and lives of people with psychosis in the Bristol area.

For the past three years, filmmaker and psychoanalyst in training Conor McCormack has documented Bristol Hearing Voices Network – a self-help group for people who hear voices and have other unusual experiences. His observational documentary In the Real (Mon 27 June) explores the phenomenon by gaining access to a community of voice-hearers on the medicated margins of society to offer a rare insight into the inner logic of each character’s madness through the intimate moments of the everyday. The screening will be introduced by Angela Woods from Hearing the Voice.

Mark Cosgrove, Watershed’s Cinema Curator said:

“Cinema lends itself to exploring and making accessible many challenging issues - for example we have recently looked at palliative care through film as well as depression in young people. This new season uncovering psychosis is a perfect example of how film can help to demystify an important condition. We are delighted to be partnering with Bristol Health Partners to engage with the widest possible audience at Watershed.”

Dr Simon Downer of Bristol Health Partners said:

“There are many different perspectives about psychosis, a term that encapsulates many different human experiences - from voice hearing to other unusual beliefs. Sometimes people having these experiences need support from specialist mental health services. Psychotic experiences can help reveal the limitations of current science and medical knowledge.

How we understand such psychological difficulties has a rich and complex history, influenced by developments in medicine and psychotherapy, and by changes in social attitudes to madness and human distress. We know that people with serious mental health problems are more likely to be socially excluded, unemployed and have a shorter life expectancy than the general population.”

The Psychosis HIT works to improve the lives of people with psychosis in Bristol. They aim to hear the voices of people who experience psychosis, their families and carers and those of staff in mental health services and other settings in order to improve services across the city.

The launch on Mon 27 June will include a short introduction to the team by the Directors, followed by a free networking event in the Café/Bar.

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