Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
A collaboration between the UK artist Emma Allen and the neuroscientist Daisy Thompson-Lake at Queen Mary University of London, this short animation uses the surface of a man’s head as a canvas to explore both the experience and the neuroscience of depression. Through an arresting and emotive visual style that uses stop-motion to animate face-painting, the short film connects two very distinct ways of conceptualising depression: as a lived emotional experience and as a medical condition rooted in brain chemistry. The video is part of Allen and Thompson-Lake’s GreyMatters series, which endeavours to ‘remove the social stigma that accompanies mental health and educate about the role of the brain in depression’.
Director: Emma Allen
Producer: Daisy Thompson-Lake
video
Anthropology
Why are witchcraft accusations so common across human societies?
4 minutes
video
Subcultures
Drop into London’s eclectic skate scene, where newbies and old-timers find community
5 minutes
video
Technology and the self
A deepfake porn victim confronts the pain of having her likeness stolen and vandalised
19 minutes
video
Wellbeing
Born in China, Zee seeks a gender-affirming life in the American Midwest
11 minutes
video
Rituals and celebrations
A whale hunt is an act of prayer for an Inuit community north of the Arctic Circle
8 minutes
video
Music
The peculiar beauty of a song caught between composition and improvisation
3 minutes
video
Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
video
Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes
video
Biography and memoir
Passed over as the first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight carved out an impressive second act
13 minutes