The Man Whose Mind Exploded Documentary film by Toby Amies Succulent Pictures This affectionate, unflinching gonzo documentary sees arts and travel presenter Toby Amies go further than his original Radio 4 programme from 2008 with the same title. (https://soundcloud.com/toby-amies/the-man-whose-mind-exploded). In doing so and by bringing to screen this portrait of an eccentric, extraordinary man who […]
Category: Film and Media
Sleeping with the Enemy: Arab Doctors Struggling with Personal and Professional Dilemmas
A review of “The Attack” and “The Last Man” showing at the “Discover Arab cinema”- British Film Institute- London 2014 “The Attack”, National Film Theatre (‘NFT’) London 23rd and 25th February 2014 “The Last Man”, NFT London 3rd and 8th March London is expanding its cinematic and cultural horizons and the British Film Institute (BFI) […]
The Wolf of Dallas: Money, Stigma and HIV – Guest Review by Shehzad Kunwar
A Review of “Dallas Buyers Club” (USA 2013, directed by Jean-Marc Vallee). Released in the UK on Friday 7th February 2014 Say hello to Ron Woodroof, a ‘typical’ Texan. He loves the rodeo. He wears a white t-shirt, boots, a large belt buckle and, of course, a classic Stetson hat. He is a […]
Alam Anjum: Emotional Warfare: From Doctors to Patients
Whilst watching the film, “The Doctor”, released in the year 1991, I was struck by the same old question in my mind, whose answer I have been looking for several years that; to what extent does a doctor need to be attached or detached from their patients as persons? […]
From lecture halls to cinema screens: learning about the psyche through films
Last year, the round-up of medical humanities-related films at the London Film Festival (LFF) centred on the theme of old age. This year, to synchronise with Mental Health Day (which fell on 10th October 2013, the second of the twelve days of the LFF), the mind and its mishaps serve as our cluster-point. […]
Film Review: Abuse of Weakness, France 2013
The impact of stroke on the lives of patients and their carers seen in the French film “Amour” directed by Michael Haneke was an eye opener to audience around the world, and justifying the film winning the Oscar for the best foreign film in 2012. As stroke organisations around the world celebrate the “World Stroke […]
Seema Biswas and Professor Mark Clarfield: ‘In a Better World’
How often when we seek to do good can we cause real harm? The Academy award-winning Danish film, In a Better World, explores this paradox through the lives of Elias and his parents: for Elias’ father – a doctor – trying to save the world comes at a heavy price. Written by Anders Jensen, who also penned […]
James Poskett: Material and visual culture of conferences
Conferences can be somewhat dry affairs. Papers delivered as long droning monologues are liable to send even the most hardened academics into a dreary stupor. The more enticing discussions can also take their toll as the days wear on, debate often returning to ancient disputes. So what better way to break up the day and […]
Khalid Ali: Film Review: Asmaa: Directed by Amr Salama: Star rating ****
With annual World AIDS Day taking place 1 December, this new Egyptian film, which was shown at the recent London Film Festival, is very topical. The subject of HIV in European and American cinema has of course been explored in many films (such as “Savage nights” (1992), “Philadelphia” (1993), “The Hours” (2002), and “Angels in […]
MASK:MIRROR:MEMBRANE-A Deborah Padfield Exhibition, London 6-16th July 2011
Here’s one for your diary, an exhibition of images by Deborah Padfield, in collaboration with patients & clinicians at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, entitled Can you see Pain? Anyone who knows Deborah’s work from her previous exhibition and book entitled Perceptions of Pain won’t want to miss this. http://www.dewilewispublishing.com/PHOTOGRAPHY/Perceptions.html […]