The Recovery Channel
Ellen Ugelstad
Norge | Norway 2023
100 min
Hybrid
På kino i 2023
The Recovery Channel er en sjangerutforskende film bygget opp som en nyhetssending hvor to nyhetsopplesere, Randi og Omar, presenterer reportasjer og gjester. Sendingen går i dybden på nyheter som kun handler om tvang i psykiatrien. Vi får også være med inn på redaksjonsmøtene og møte Randi utenfor sendingen, som pårørende til søsteren Ylva som ikke vil ta imot hjelp.
Filmen er også en kommentar til medienes rolle, makt og form, som er med på å definere hvordan vi mottar kunnskap om psykisk lidelser, diagnoser og tvang.
Regi Director Ellen Ugelstad
Manus Script Einar Sverdrup, Ellen Ugelstad
Foto Cinematography Kristoffer Archetti Stølen
Klipp Editing Trude Lirhus
Produsent Producer Ellen Ugelstad, Tonje Alice Madsen
Produksjon Production Twentyone Pictures AS
Part drama, part first person narrative, part documentary and part satire, The Recovery Channel is centered around a TV channel solely devoted to presenting news bout mental health. It ́s anchored by, Randi and Omar, and presents reports, guests in studio, sports and cultural features. We follow the editorial meetings and Randi’s life outside the broadcast, trying to help her little sister Ylva. Her storyline reflect the many families face in their efforts to help their loved ones. The media is seldom nuanced enough in the presentation of mental illness. The Recovery Channel is thus a film that scrutinizes and comment the news format.
The Recovery Channel is both a personal and a political film. The film is based on the directors own experiences with a younger brother who has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for 25 years. Recovery Channel explores what it is like to be deprived of freedom and while calling for a more humanistic view on mental illness. THE RECOVERY CHANNEL takes an extreme and unflinching look at mental health as a human right. A human right often violated by lack of resources and training, and outdated medical treatments designed to coerce a patient, not rehabilitate them.