On the occasion of the release of the collector box Nicolas Philibert: In psychiatry Blaq Out (containing the films) On Adamant, Averroès and Rosa Parks, The Typewriter and other sources of hassle & The Mind of Things), we will go back one by one on these different documentaries of director focused on the psychiatry community. Passionate, documenting the evolution of this practice between 1992 (The Mind of the and 2024, and facing the humanity of these people so different but yet bringing us back to the centre of what the human is. After On Adamant and The Mind of Things which have already been chronized, it is in turn d‘Averroès & Rosa Parks to pass on the criticism grill...
Documentary Triptych
The box In Psychiatry includes an old film (The Mind of the things) and the documentary triptych released between 2023 and 2024. After On AdamantSo it's on the second foot of this trio that we're going to lean. The first one explored the necessity and precariousness of a day hospital such as Adamant's houseboat, while with Averroès and Rosa Parks We're not going to focus on long interviews between Esquirol hospital staff and patients. This place, like Adamant, is part of the Paris Centre Psychiatric Centre, and Averroès and Rosa Parks are two units.
If The Mind of the things were exciting in what he said about art as cement between all these polarities depicted on the screen (we followed the preparation of theOperetta He was still accused of too much editing. Nicolas Philibert He probably wanted to instil a rhythm in his story through editing, but at the same time he segmented many exchanges, which often kept the viewer away from the different patients he was portraying. Much later, he attacked with On Adamant the representation of a structure on the screen. While the cared for had a prominent place there, the plans attached more to drawing the necessity and the precariousness of Adamant's houseboat/day hospital. With Averroès & Rosa Parks We're still in something else...
Indeed, if the feature film begins with a long sequence of drone (later presented to patients) showing from the air the military (or prison) looks of the hospital, Nicolas Philibert will get much closer to its residents. He will place his two cameras (one directed to the patient, the other to the caregiver) during consultations, usually in a small committee. Without contextualization, we will follow these exchanges throughout the two hours of the film. Real slices of therapies, where the long time allows the documentary artist to capture not only all the flaws of these fragile and mistreated human beings, and at the same time to meet the immense challenges faced by the healthcare staff and the cruel lack of resources they face...
Phone ringing
Indeed, the rough format of the feature film – which can be easily compared to the brilliant Our Corps which we had already talked about on MaG – allows the anomalies to appear. The discomfort facing the camera fades, the tongues untie, we extract more and more from this kind of filmic Hawthorne effect to capture the essence of what these "caregiving" meetings are. Better yet, the camera can capture the unexpected. A ringing of the on-call phone that will stop a meeting twice, proving how much the caregivers must be on all fronts constantly. The screams of a patient who, like the ringing, will pause an exchange.
It is easy to understand the lack of means, the lack of personnel, the lack of time to give to these souls in pain shaken by the constant speed of our society. If caregivers try to provide them with a temporary haven of peace (social, chemical or both), patients' frequent allusions about the health system (and especially the psychiatric environment) are quite indicative of what actually happens. Sometimes quite upsetting, sometimes outright oppressive, Averroès & Rosa Parks shows a brief sample of this hidden life that financiers are increasingly trying to stifle. The documentary highlights this world apart and its inhabitants, and once again proves the primary need for these places of care.
Data sheet (Averroès & Rosa Parks)
DVD Region B (France)
Publisher: Blaq Out
Duration: 139 min
Release date: 03 December 2024
Video format: 576p/25 – 1.85
Soundtrack: French Dolby Digital 5.1 (and 2.0)
Subtitles : French
The set contains the other films by Nicolas Philibert (On Adamant, Averroès and Rosa Parks, The Typewriter and other sources of hassle & The Mind of Things), numerous video bonuses (including « Nicolas Philibert, chance and necessity », a film by Jean-Louis Comolli (2019, 90) and a 144-page booklet. The films are the subject of separate reviews to be found on MaG.
[...] set contains other films by Nicolas Philibert (On Adamant, Averroès and Rosa Parks, The Writing Machine and other sources of hassle & La Moindre des choses), many bonuses [...]