Channels: Stories from the Niagara Frontier is Squeaky Wheel’s production initiative that matches up local filmmakers with WNY’s activist groups to make short documentaries about social justice issues impacting this region. This Thursday April 18th at 7 PM, Squeaky Wheel will be premiering three new films produced through the initiative at the Market Arcade Film + Art Center. In advance of the premiere, we have been posting brief previews highlighting each film.
Not Without Us by Mental Health Peer Connection + Sam Avery
The original proposal for the film that became Not WIthout Us sited a statistic indicating that at least 70% of the time that a TV character is depicted as having a mental illness, that character is portrayed as being violently dangerous. This documentary provides an antidote to this harmful and prevalent stereotype by telling the story from the perspective of people labeled as mentally ill.
The voices we hear begin by recounting the frustration, dehumanization, and outrage that can come with a mental illness diagnosis that purports to limit one’s future and possibilities. Disability-rights activist and Commonground creator Pat Deegan speaks of being told that she can’t work or go to school and must avoid stress due to being diagnosed with schizophrenia. This “prognosis of doom” upset her deeply, but she knew that an indignant contestation would be seen as part of her illness.
Not Without Us doesn’t just linger on the negatives however, the film offers alternatives to the potentially oppressive systems of mental illness diagnosis and drug-based treatment. Mental Health Peer Connection, the group that collaborated to create this film, is one example of such alternatives. The organization puts a profound emphasis on choice, empowerment, and peer mentorship to help people diagnosed with disabilities live as independently as possible. Mona White, a Peer at MHPC says, “people always want to tell you what you need instead of asking you what you want. As a peer, I get to ask people what they want.”
Watch a trailer for Not Without Us here: vimeo.com/62822165