Michele Beck’s Learning to Speak is a personal documentary about the most literal form of art therapy. After her father’s death, Michele revisits the open psychiatric hospital where she spent three and a half years following a suicide attempt in her early twenties. Although Michele lets herself feel the pain of this experience, and in fact that is part of the point of the journey, she channels that pain and transforms it into expressive forms of art, including drawings as well as found-object sculptures.
Intrepid jury member and interviewer Beatrice Wong gets deep with Michele, discussing the importance of morning pages, art therapy, and community. Though technology may separate us at times, communicating through art, and Zoom interviews for Mental Filmness, can bring us together.
The lovely music in this video is attributed to Yuhang.
You still have one more weekend left to watch Learning to Speak for FREE in the virtual festival: Learning to Speak | Mental Filmness 2025
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