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Documentary - 45mins. USA, English
Jonas is a documentary portrait of my brother and his life with schizophrenia. Ultimately,
the film investigates Jonas’s imprecise position. He is intelligent, lucid, and
high-functioning. But at 35 still lives with our parents and struggles to form an
independent identity. His illness does not define him, but seems to hinder him from that
definitive (and “normal”) identity he desperately wants.
The film navigates between past and present, relating the periods of the beginning of the
illness, the early warning signs, and the recovery, while also delineating his life now:
medicated, banal, and marginalized. We watch him work on the family farm with our father,
look for work, and listen to music for hours on end. He laments that his illness was
simply “a one year battle” and that he wants to “get out and do something
on my own.” But this does not seem to be as easy as he contends.
Jonas is not the stereotypical image of the schizophrenic we have in our heads. He
isn’t the homeless person sitting on the sidewalk chanting, screaming, or muttering
(that we all nervously try to ignore). He isn’t the violent psychotic often portrayed
in our media. He is intelligent and articulate, fully aware of himself and his illness,
and frustrated over its ability to limit him. He is complex and human, and a very
important counter-imageScreenings
Winner: Best Short Documentary
Southern Winds Film Festival, Shawnee, OK, USA
Winner: Best Short Over 30 minutes
DeReel Independent Film Festival, Victoria, Australia
Indie Can Film Festival, Toronto, Canada
Mendocino Film Festival, Mendocino, CA, USA
Swansea Bay Film Festival, Swansea Bay, Wales
Real to Reel Film and Video Festival, Kings Mountain, NC, USA
Free Range Film Festival, Wrenshall, MN, USA
Gloria International Film Festival, West Valley City, UT, USA
Everglades International Film Festival, Dargle, South Africa
DIY Film Festival, Honorable Mention, USA
ReelHeART International Film Festival, Toronto, ON, Canada
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