Continuing a 30-year collaboration with sound recordist and producer Claudine Nougaret, renowned photographer and documentarian Raymond Depardon has made a startling, face-to-face look at mental illness and the French legal system. According to the law, anyone admitted to a psychiatric hospital against their will must be evaluated by a judge within twelve days to determine whether they are fit to be released or must continue treatment. With disarming, fly-on-the-wall immediacy, Depardon brings the viewer into the room for these charged encounters, which are by turns heartrending, unnerving, and deeply humanizing. Crucially, Depardon and his impassive, vérité camera refuse to pass judgment, letting the subjects—among society’s most vulnerable and marginalized—speak for themselves. Nominated for a Best Documentary César Award.
