Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
The influential Scottish-born psychiatrist R D Laing established an innovative approach to alleviating psychological anguish when, in 1965, he co-founded the Philadelphia Association. The organisation, which still operates in London, is centred on a communal approach to wellbeing where people who are experiencing acute mental distress live together in a Philadelphia Association house, with routine visits from therapists. Influenced by existentialist philosophy and the anti-psychiatry movement, which characterises psychological difficulties as a personal struggle rather than an ‘illness’, the organisation offers an alternative to what its advocates view as ‘confrontational’ treatment methods and medical interventions. Through evocative stop-motion animations, the UK filmmaker Alex Widdowson draws on interviews with a current house therapist, a former house resident, and the UK author and cultural historian Mike Jay, to explore the thinking behind the organisation’s methodology and contextualise its legacy.
video
Wellbeing
Through a poetic account of childhood trauma, one woman reclaims her past
28 minutes
video
Politics and government
‘Without a poster, you don’t exist!’ – on the curious political banners of Mumbai
20 minutes
video
Earth science and climate
A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse
6 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
The old-time cinema experience endures in a quiet corner of Japan
5 minutes
video
Gender and identity
‘I didn’t fall in love with a couple of body pieces’ – on marriage and transition
3 minutes
video
Sports and games
The brutality and beauty of the West African martial art of ‘dambe’
15 minutes
video
Animals and humans
What happened when one woman raised an abandoned squirrel as her own
8 minutes
video
Life stages
At 14, Asal is excited about her engagement. Her relatives all have their own opinions
33 minutes
video
The future
What’s the healthiest way to handle a creeping feeling that the world is ending?
15 minutes