Mental Filmness

Last night my fiance told me we had to watch a new episode of The Simpsons because he heard that Michael Stipe from R.E.M. guest starred on the show and sang a song. What neither one of us realized was that the main plot of the episode revolved around the character Kirk Van Houten’s bipolar disorder. 

The episode begins with a bizarre and pretty funny sequence of events involving a mass of animals freed from captivity only to disrupt the town’s supply of psychiatric medications. Soon follows the explanation that because of the disruption of this supply, Kirk has gone off his medication for bipolar disorder. (When we first saw Kirk hyping up, talking quickly, missing sleep, and interrupting himself with epiphanies, me and my partner just turned to each other and said “It seems like…he’s manic?”) 

Completely unexpected to myself, this episode (# 805 – “Homer? A Cracker Bro?”) presented a surprisingly accurate and empathetic portrayal of bipolar disorder. The plot follows Kirk from the most brilliant and charismatic moments of mania, to the point where he ratchets up to a more frightening and delusional state, and then finally to the inevitable moment where he hits the “other pole” of manic depression and begins struggling with daily hygiene and functioning. 

While a twenty-minute cartoon can’t possibly capture all the nuances of a complex mental illness, it can try, and it can succeed in surprising ways. The way Kirk rambled in a manner where he couldn’t keep up with all of his ideas, his boundless energy, and his odd ensembles all reminded me of bits and pieces of mania, and the low where he didn’t have the energy to get up and Marge had to force him into the shower reminded me of debilitating depressive episodes.

Here’s one thing the show got right: oftentimes, people in a manic state actually *do* have pretty insightful creative ideas. Kirk manages to invent something that makes him incredibly rich before he goes too far off the rails. You’ve probably heard that famous saying “just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not after you.” I would say just because you’re manic, doesn’t mean your idea isn’t brilliant. In fact, in the early stages of mania, it’s not uncommon for people to sound brilliant and convincing to everyone else around them. I loved that the show depicted this reality even though it would have been easy to just have Kirk “go crazy” really quickly.

In case anyone was wondering, or maybe you’ve probably already heard, the R.E.M. parody song in the episode is “Everybody Kirks” in the place of “Everybody Hurts,” played during Kirk’s depressive episode as he struggles to get out of bed or shower. While the song was amusing in an absurdist kind of way, I found the most poignant use of an R.E.M. song to hit at the episode’s ending.

The episode’s story arc follows Homer’s shift from dodging Kirk, who he finds boring, to his growing interest in the exciting, innovative, and lucrative ideas Kirk is developing. At the end of the episode, when Kirk has balanced out, he makes a remark about how Homer misses the “manic Kirk.” 

I love that the show doesn’t really sugar-coat the fact that this is probably true. Instead, Homer and Kirk push nonexistent cracker crumbs (an in-joke in the show) from their chests, almost as if to say they shared a secret moment that they could brush off to begin again. In the background of this resolution, the R.E.M. the song “Superman” plays, with its rousing lyrics “I am Superman, and I can do anything.”

If “Everybody Kirks” was Kirk’s song for a depressive episode, “I Am Superman” is certainly the song for his manic episode. It’s an interesting choice for the end of an episode that accurately depicted how a manic episode can spiral and tip from charming to frightening pretty quickly. Especially in the context of the show’s ending, the song could be read as an anthem for the secret life of boring Kirk. An even more bittersweet and meaningful interpretation to me is that Kirk, and people like him, really *can* do pretty much anything, under limited circumstances—circumstances that, sadly, have not really found their balance in nature. In a way it ties back to the stampeding animals in the beginning, gaining their exhilarating freedom only to be medicated and brought back down to Earth.

Mental Filmness organizer Sharon Gissy appeared as a guest on an episode of Genre Grinder podcast with Gabe Powers. It explores four of the gialli films highlighted in the powerful, semi-autobiographical book House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films by Kier-La Janisse (and we even covered the film that gave the book its title!) Check it out!

Episode 58: The Neurotic Women of ‘70s Giallo, feat. Sharon Gissy of Mental Filmness

I’d like to give a huge thanks and appreciation for those involved in our final event of the year on 11/22 during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Thank you to Ivan Sanchez for originally connecting us to Doug Shaffer, he is such a kind and gracious guest. Thank you to the Chicago Public Library’s Disability Pride Committee for generously sponsoring another Mental Filmness screening to support and spread awareness of mental health disabilities. Thank you to producer Douglas Shaffer for taking time out of his busy schedule to come out on a fairly quick turnaround to screen the film 5000 Blankets and engage the audience in discussion about the importance of recognizing and addressing mental health conditions and homelessness as well as the filmmaking process in general. Huge thanks as well goes to filmmaker and Mental Filmness jury member Nick Chirico for his help in calmly and competently working through some tech issues, the staff of the Albany Park branch library for hosting us and also doing some troubleshooting with the room and loaning A/V equipment, and for local storyteller and advocate Dave Scott for telling his own story about his experience with homelessness to engage the audience and help smooth things over (as well as sharing some valuable resources from his experience). This was truly a team effort from a caring community!

We actually had a decent turnout and probably most importantly (other than people bringing snacks and candy), the audience members who could stay later were very engaged in the discussion. People talked about resources and possible solutions to these problems, some from lived-experience perspectives, and some were curious about the filmmaking process itself. Thanks for making the last Mental Filmness event of the year a truly warm and memorable experience!

Did you know the week of November 16-22 is Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week?

From the Hunger and Homeless Awareness (hh week) website: “As the holidays approach, people take time to consider what they’re thankful for and many choose to donate some of their time, attention, and resources to others. In that spirit of giving, each year the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness sponsor Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week during the week prior to Thanksgiving.

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is designed to educate the public, draw attention to the problem of poverty, and build up the base of volunteers and supporters for local anti-poverty agencies. Groups spend this week generating publicity about hunger and homelessness and holding a series of events to engage their communities.”

Come see 5000 Blankets Movie this weekend, November 22nd, @ the Albany Park branch of the Chicago Public Library, with producer Douglas Shaffer in person, to spread awareness of the connection between homelessness and mental health (and check out more ways to get involved at hhweek.org). If you’d like to bring a blanket to donate to organizations working with the homeless, feel free (but it’s not a requirement). #hhweek

Time for the last interview of the virtual festival! Our inimitable jury member and fellow L.A. filmmaker Danielle Gibson was the perfect interviewer for Regina Oliver, writer-director-producer-star and general powerhouse behind the short film Always Enough. And though our virtual festival has wrapped, it is clear that the creative team behind Always Enough really wants it to be seen far and wide and that there will be more opportunities to do so, so please keep an eye on its future at ttps://www.instagram.com/alwaysenoughfilm.

The visually compelling and inspirational Always Enough uses surreal visual imagery that I agree is reminiscent of David Lynch, though that makes sense if it originally came from a dream. Though experimental, the film conveys a message of self-acceptance quite clearly. It reminds me of something a therapist used to tell me about some of my most regrettable and shameful actions: “Maybe you were doing the best you could at the time.” Maybe doing the best we can at the time and under the circumstances, including during the times that we struggle with our self-worth and other mental health challenges, is always enough.

This Is A Sad Story appeared in the festival a little later and so does our interview, but you should seek this film out any way you can if you didn’t catch it. It stands out as a truly unique Mental Fillmness entry in that it explores sadness in a more absurdist existentialist way, and it crackles with the energetic wit and creativity of youth in the way that only a youth-made film can. I will be keeping an eye on emerging filmmaker Nuno Abreu to see what he does next, because he definitely has a knack for snappily written dialogue and dry humor without sacrificing the warmth of a sunset or peer support.

Mental Filmness jury gem Beatrice Wong has also become a stellar interviewer. I love her use of split screen, fades, and the dreamy music by Yuhang which gives it all a meditative tone. She also uses a skill I sometimes lack: she is succinct! At a tight eleven minutes, I’ll bet you have time to watch this charming conversation about youth and representing the nature of sadness in a fresh way—and you certainly should.

This coming week, November 16-22, is Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week in Chicago. You can find events near you at hhweek.org for fundraising for anti-poverty organizations, collecting food and toiletries, and more.

Mental Filmness will be partnering once again with the Chicago Public Library’s Disability Pride Committee to host a screening of the film 5000 Blankets, with producer Douglas Shaffer in person. The screening will take place at the Albany Park branch of the Chicago Public Library on November 22nd at 2 p.m., and will feature an optional blanket drive (last time I said this, and we still received a *ton* of blankets to give to organizations that work with the homeless! Chicago is very generous). Based on the true story of a man who had a mental breakdown and went missing in the streets, and the family that went to search for him, this film explores the intersection of mental health and homelessness.

Please join us on November 22nd for our very special final event of the year.

Although the virtual festival has wrapped up, it’s still well worth watching this brief 14-minute conversation between Beatrice Wong and Niels Fiegerslev. Even if you didn’t catch the short film Forever Dying in the festival, this interview touches upon the importance of the mental health implications of health anixety. This is a topic, as Beatrice and Niels point out, that has only grown more relevant since post-COVID and that is probably relatable to many people to varying degrees of severity. Forever Dying—featuring a man panicking in a doctor’s waiting room about a cartoonishly grotesque boil growing out of his neck–shows how one’s anxiety can color reality, and how physical symptoms are often tied to our mental health. If you want to treat the manifestation, as the doctor in the film says, you must first treat the underlying condition, no matter what form that might take.

Enjoy!

We still have a few more wonderful interviews rolling in from the festival this week, but now is the moment everyone has been waiting for—the results of the awards for the 2025 FINAL Mental Filmness virtual festival!

Yes, awards are kind of silly, and I hope no one takes them *too* seriously. Everyone should be very proud they were selected, as we had a large amount of quality entries and an incredible array of judges.

Once again, awards are decided by tallying the votes viewers cast on their virtual ballots (which Eventive does automatically), and then taking the top scorers and giving them an award based on the film that was the most empathetic, the most realistic, or the most stigma-breaking film. (This seems a little arbitrary as well but somehow it always seems to work out). 

I am proud to say that out of a couple hundred virtual ballots cast, these are the results:

The Next Step (dir. Nora Guicheney) is a fairly straightforward documentary, but it obviously struck a chord with many audience members as it was one of the most highly rated films of the 2025 virtual festival. I chalk this up partly to the film’s unique and overlooked subject matter, that of the decision to wean off medication and become pregnant when living with bipolar disorder. The other part is undoubtedly the nakedly honest, brave, and personal story and narration by director Nora Guicheney. Nora leaves in the hard parts, including arguments with her mother and partner about her choice to conceive and her memories of psychosis, while still allowing room for the quiet, gentle parts of exploring her familial identity through letters, photos, and reflections. The end result is a brief but ponderous film that reveals Nora’s next step. For its candor as well as its integration of natural conversations, we’d like to honor The Next Step with the Realism Award for showing a difficult decision for one living with a mental illness with unflinching realness.

I had a feeling Stay (dir. Nick Ceulemans) would resonate with the audience as well as it did with our jury. The story of a woman with an ambiguous mental illness and the partner who becomes her caretaker, this film hits upon our universal need to want to be loved even when we are at our most unlovable. Having been the mentally ill person in such a relationship, I related to and did a lot of the things the character in this film did, including lying, abusing medication, and other self-destructive acts, yet my partner at the time somehow loved and tolerated me anyway, and we even had warm and funny moments, so I can vouch for the accuracy of this portrayal. And spoiler alert, that ending is a real tearjerker. Due to its portrait of someone living with a mental illness who is flawed but still in a loving relationship, and its interesting exploration of how far that love can be pushed to its limits, Stay is awarded the Empathy Award for investing the audience’s feelings in the future of both of these characters and their relationship in a surprisingly scant running time. 

Finally, I believe Common Law (dir. Kagah Goh) firmly belongs in the Stigma Breaker category. A film about a rarely mentioned or discussed, yet immensely important, topic, Common Law tackles the difficulty and red tape surrounding getting disability benefits when you live with a chronic mental illness, and are receiving some support from a partner or family members. Based on the true story of what happened to writer-director Kagan Goh, Common Law also tackles stigma against speaking openly about mental illness in Canadian-Asian families and culture. Kagan certainly walks the walk in real lifee as the “bipolar laureate” of Vancouver, helping spread mental health awareness and support and highlighting the artistic achievements of those who live with mental illness. It’s incredible how far Kagan has come as a filmmaker since we first screened his short film The Day My Cat Saved My Life, about a man in the midst of a psychotic break who is grounded and brought back to Earth by the touch of his cat. Common Law is a brave, personal, and incredibly realistic and nuanced film about some of the very specific challenges of living with manic depression.

Thank you to all the amazing submissions we received, I’m always a bit blown away by the variety and the diversity. Thank you for being a part of the special final *virtual* festival (the live one will continue, so stay tuned).