Workman Arts Presents
21st ANNUAL RENDEZVOUS WITH MADNESS FILM FESTIVAL
Changing Perspectives of Mental Illness and Addiction
November 11 – 16, 2013
http://rendezvouswithmadness.com
http://workmanarts.com
This six-day festival showcases over a dozen programs of feature and short films, as well as industry and artist talks, multi-media installations, live performances and visual arts exhibitions. Twenty-one years of screenings and T-Mak World will be there. “Since the inception of RWM Film Festival in 1993, we have witnessed sweeping changes in both the worlds of film and mental illness. Stereotypical depictions of people with mental illness such as mad scientists, or obsessed ship captains, have evolved to more humane depictions of extraordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances,” said, Lisa Brown, Rendezvous with Madness Founder and Workman Arts Executive Artistic Director. “This years’ festival tag line, Changing Perspectives, is meant to reflect that positive evolution.”
Genre: Drama Country: USA Language: EnglishPremiere: Canadian Premiere
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Writer: Destin Daniel Cretton Producer(s): Maren Olson, Asher Goldstein, Joshua Astrachan, Ron Najor
Release Date: November, 2013 Runtime: 96 Minutes
Cast: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Stephanie Beatriz, Rami Malek, Keith Stanfield, Kevin Hernandez, Lydia Du Veaux, Alex Calloway, Frantz Turner
November 6, 2013. We live in such a fast paced disposable world, and it is unconscionable to think that the words children and disposable could factor into any scenario, but the sad reality is, it does. Each child is some mother’s daughter, some father’s son and yet we still continue to toss them aside in favor of other realities. Society is so quick to label what they don’t understand and in doing so ratchet down the possibilities for these kids to climb out from under the stigmatizing labels that shadows them during their critical formative years. Short Term 12 gives us an intimate glimpse into the sometimes happy, sometimes dangerous in treatment world of a residential centre for troubled youths. This is a world where testing front line staff is a rite of passage and personal turmoil simmers just below the surface. It is this dynamic that forms the engrossing and intimate narrative around the indie film, Short Term 12.
Kids on the margins trying to reintegrate back into society have Grace (Brie Larson), in their corner. This twenty-something counsellor is part mother, part friend, part detective and part quasi therapist to them. The realities of a mind numbing environment steeped in unease, then punctuated by sequences of confusion, frustration and destruction has become standard operating procedure. For Grace, Mason (John Gallagher), and the rest of the counsellors, their coping mechanisms get thoroughly tested. Director, Destin Daniel Cretton, makes a point of keeping the clinical elements of the process at bay by never showing actual clinicians. In its place, he delivers a more personal understanding of what these kids are up against through straight talk from counsellors not only closer to their age but altogether more relatable to each and every situation.
Cretton also builds the case for further character analysis as he artfully flushes out intricate story lines between Grace and the wedge forming with Mason as well as her interaction with the brooding Marcus (Keith Stanfield). But, the greatest breakthrough comes in her connection with newbie Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), who exposes Grace’s frailties in the process. Jayden’s deeply moving Shark and Nina allegory depicting the predatory nature of her father is the film’s most powerful statement, and it’s because of this revelation that Grace’s vulnerabilities are laid bare.
Short Term 12 gives equal time to the problems these kids face while exposing the struggles and issues every counsellor undergoes in trying to maintain some semblance of order, both within and outside the facility. By taking this tack, the formulaic preachy elements so often employed in this genre gets short shrift. The conflict resolution paradigm is underpinned with copious amounts of face time and smart dialogue between fully formed characters.
Verdict 4 out of 5: Clinicians in white coats dispensing large pill counts is not the denouement of Short Term 12. This indie gem has no marquee names and it doesn’t need them. What it delivers in spades is the quiet victories from in treatment kids and counsellors alike that are seldom witnessed in the outside world. These victories come in the form of powerful conversational sequences that drive a tight narrative squarely centered on getting to the root of each and every troubled kid. Cretton successfully shines this revealing light for all to see.
Final Thought: In Treatment doesn’t always get dispensed in pill form.
