Documentary
ZAAD tells the autobiographical story of Dries Meddens. After the death of his mother, the care for Dries' bipolar father falls on his plate. He discovers how crudely and ruthlessly society and psychiatry treat patients. His father eventually dies in solitary confinement. While emptying his parent’s home, Dries discovers an old letter from his grandfather. The man appears to have led a busy, productive life. He is the founder of an internationally renowned seed breeding company and still has time to paint, write diaries and conduct intensive correspondence. Dries finds similarities between his grandfather, his father and himself. Slowly the fear grows that his father's psychiatric illness might be hereditary. Strolling through the family’s film and photo archives, with dramatic and sometimes hilarious finds, Dries tries to find answers. He also consults a psychiatrist. Together the consultations and reviewing of his archival material help Dries look at bipolarity with new eyes.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Memory
Wolfe
The Tattooed Police Horse
What The Durrells Did Next
Is Mindfulness Right for You?
Echoes of Machtat
Beyond Silence
Fuck That
Back To Africa
Faire famille
Young and Afraid
Drunk on Too Much Life
Plasticine Family
The Eternal Memory
Goodbye Darling, I'm Off to Fight
Sisters
Arctic Tale
Oaxacalifornia: The Return
A Conversation Between Parents
Ghosts: Long Way Home
SIMILAR MOVIES
Memory
IMDB 4 | Jan , 2007
Memory is a collaboration with musician Noah Lennox (Panda Bear), exploring the relationship between a musician and filmmaker and their personal reflection on memories. From Super 8 home movies and entirely handmade, this film explores familiar memories, the present moment combined with past experiences and how it all seems to evade from our present memory.Wolfe
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2016
"Wolfe" is an intimate confessional from Nick, who learned through puberty that the imaginary friend in his head was real, and violent.The Tattooed Police Horse
IMDB 6 | Apr , 1964
Barred from racing for breaking stride, a trotting horse finds a new career as a police officer's mount in Boston.What The Durrells Did Next
IMDB 6.4 | May , 2019
Hosted by Keeley Hawes, star of the popular television series The Durrells, this documentary reveals the adventures of the eccentric Durrell family once they left Corfu, Greece.Is Mindfulness Right for You?
IMDB 6 | Jan , 2021
This insightful and informative documentary explores the popular world of Mindfulness from the perspective of four people who study and teach it. Mindfulness is defined as a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.Echoes of Machtat
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2024
In Mahdia, Tunisia, Maram embarks on an intimate journey through the ancestral customs that have shaped her life, exploring matrimonial traditions, and highlighting the Henna, where the bewitching songs of the Machtat resound. Tracing her childhood memories, guided by Latifa and Habiba, two prominent Machtat, she uncovers the maternal essence of tradition, where the bond between mother and bride is at the heart of these intimate celebrations.Beyond Silence
IMDB 0 | Feb , 2017
The lives of Jeff, Lauren and Lloyd—three very different people who share one common experience—have been transformed by speaking up for mental health. These inspiring stories depict what mental health in America really looks like and highlights just how important it is to speak up and seek help.Fuck That
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2025
Back To Africa
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2008
An Austrian director followed five successful African music and dance artists with his camera and followed their lives for a year. The artists, from villages in Ghana, Gambia and Congo, were the subjects of Africa! Africa! touring across Europe, but they have unbreakable roots to their homeland and their families. Schmiderer lovingly portrays his heroes, who tell their stories about themselves, their art and what it means to them to be African with captivating honesty. The interviews are interwoven with dance scenes and colourful vignettes set to authentic music.Faire famille
IMDB 0 | May , 2023
What's it like to "make a family" when you're not part of the traditional hetero couple? Can two best buddies living on the same floor become a family? Océan and his best friend Sophie-Marie Larrouy will question their friendship, their desire for children and their ability to commit to each other, going to meet people who have made families "differently" to draw inspiration from them and invent their own model.Young and Afraid
IMDB 4.9 | Sep , 2021
In 2017 Petter (24) decides to end his life, but at the very last moment, is stopped by the police. His best friend and fellow film student Sverre is determined to help and suggests making a film to keep Petter busy and focused on getting better. Equipped with a camera, they search the streets of Oslo to find out how other troubled souls deal with their lives. With a naive and spontaneous approach, they end up in dramatic and unpredictable situations. They meet Monica, whose past has led her to self-injurious behavior. Oliver and Cornelia, both escaping their demons with alcohol and drugs, and Emma, who is transsexual, lesbian, and proud of who she is. They also meet Miriam, who becomes Petter's girlfriend. By getting to know their destructive patterns, Petter becomes aware of his own. He sets off on a bumpy therapeutic journey, that eventually brings light into his darkness. Young and Afraid is an authentic and raw documentary about choosing to live.Drunk on Too Much Life
IMDB 10 | Nov , 2021
The filmmakers' 21-year-old daughter journeys from locked-down psych wards and diagnostic labels toward expansive worlds of creativity, connection, and greater meaning. Featuring insights from trauma experts and others, the film challenges the widespread idea that mental illness should be understood purely in biological terms, revealing the myriad ways that madness has meaning beyond brain chemistry.Plasticine Family
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2016
It is hard to find a family home where all the members have gone to live their separate lives in different parts of the world. Travelling between different continents, the director visits divorced parents and their new partners and also meets her sister who decided to join an alternative community. Their family exists on archival films and photographs only. Is it still possible to put it all together against all odds?The Eternal Memory
IMDB 8 | Aug , 2023
Augusto and Paulina have been together for 25 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Both fear the day he no longer recognizes her.Goodbye Darling, I'm Off to Fight
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2017
Sisters
IMDB 8 | May , 1999
Two old sisters, living in the same Warsaw apartment, sit on a bench and talk. The 87-year-old elder one seems to care for the other reluctantly and treat her badly. The younger, who is said to be clumsier, has walking problems.Arctic Tale
IMDB 6.7 | Jun , 2007
Arctic Tale is a 2007 documentary film from the National Geographic Society about the life cycle of a walrus and her calf, and a polar bear and her cubs, in a similar vein to the 2005 hit production March of the Penguins, also from National Geographic.Oaxacalifornia: The Return
IMDB 7 | Oct , 2021
The Mejia family emigrated from Oaxaca to Fresno, California 40 years ago. Filmmaker Trisha ZIff filmed the family in 1996, and returns now to see the changes that have settled over them, and follows the family on their return to Mexico.A Conversation Between Parents
IMDB 0 | May , 2017
A year after Thadd and Shannon gave birth to their son, A Conversation Between Parents highlights a climactic conversation in their lives -- as both young parents grasp at the last threads of their ideal family. On an afternoon off of work, the couple sits on their couch, while their son sleeps in his crib, and the family grapples with their limited options one last time. Dietrich’s camera ties the couple’s painful conversation together with flashbacks of both parents’ precious memories of their first year with Jasper, attempting to find a way to articulate their struggles in the last conversation they have together as a couple.Ghosts: Long Way Home
IMDB 7.5 | Oct , 2019
After a spell cast by Grandma Faraway, the oldest son of a small family encounters the ghost of his late Grandma Maria still living in her old house, and they chat as they used to.