A monthly film series promoting professional and community education on issues pertaining to mental health and illness. Presented by The Cinematheque and the Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry. Screenings are generally held on the third Wednesday of each month at The Cinematheque, 1131 Howe St, Vancouver, BC.
Canada/Cuba 2022 (90 min DCP)
Director: Nisha Platzer
Wednesday May 15th @ 7:00pm
The Cinematheque (1131 Howe St)
Film Description
In 1999, when Nisha Platzer was 11 years old, her older brother Josh died by suicide. Twenty years later, the Vancouver-based artist traces the past using the art of analogue filmmaking in her debut feature documentary, back home. Through contemplative narration and fragmentary film sequences (hand-crafted by processing film using plants, soil, and ashes), Nisha documents her efforts to reconnect with the memory of her deceased brother. After experiencing mysterious pain in her feet, Nisha is advised to seek a particular form of yoga treatment. In one of several synchronicities, the yoga specialist she meets, Swan, is revealed to be the mother of Josh’s childhood friend Sam. Between poetic images captured on 16mm and 8mm, Nisha establishes a deep connection with Swan, Sam, and others who knew Josh well, offering a touching exploration of grief and healing in their various manifestations—physical, emotional, and communal.
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“There’s a stark tactility to the images of back home, as well as a haunting, ethereal quality … [Platzer’s film] offers a poignant, personal consideration of family, wellness, and the (im)permanence of all things that walk the earth.” — Pat Mullen, POV Magazine
“With poetic attention to the smaller details that carry outsized emotional weight, back home navigates the agony of loss with clarity and a stubborn species of hope … [The film] creates a shared space for grief, healing, and true catharsis.” — Dorothy Woodend, The Tyee
“[Platzer’s back home] is less a story about family trauma than an attempt to empathize with the pain her brother was in … The result is a deeply moving and ultimately uplifting film about how to live with grief and loss.” — Andrea Thompson, Chicago Reader
Post-screening Discussion:
Post-screening discussion with Nisha Platzer and Maria Weaver. Moderated by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia
About the Panel:
Nisha Platzer holds a master’s degree from Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV in Cuba and is a writer-director of short films that have screened at festivals on three continents. Her experience ranges from distributing documentaries and making handmade films on celluloid, to writing and directing narrative shorts and music videos.
Maria Weaver works for the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division, as the associate director of Suicide Prevention and Life Promotion. Her journey is marked by a profound dedication to enhancing crisis-care reform, training diverse groups on de-escalation, uplifting the voices of those who have experienced challenges in mental health systems, and leading the profound work in suicide prevention and life promotion.
Dr. Harry Karlinsky, the Series Director of Frames of Mind and a Clinical Professor in the UBC Department of Psychiatry, has a longstanding commitment to professional and public education. He has presented nationally and internationally on topics ranging from Alzheimer’s disease to information technology to narrative medicine to PTSD and to the use of films in health care education.
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