This series of short films documents various approaches to animation created by persons with chronic mental illness to illustrate their personal narratives. The films were made between the years 1962 and 2001 in psychiatric settings, some inpatient and some outpatient. A variety of techniques are applied and demonstrated, including collage, drawing, painting, and claymation along with the process of staging, adding music, and in general using stop-motion animation to create finished films. They include the process of creation as well as that of production. Themes of isolation, institutionalization, suicidality and homicidality, psychotropic medication, relationships, collaboration, stigma, and freedom vs. dependency are explored. The tone ranges from serious to playful, and the variety is inspiring.
Films include:
Torino Animators – Tea Taramino (2001)
Total Running Time: 1 hour, 22 minutes, 28 seconds