Sur l'Adamant

It is not often that the Berlin Film Festival's most important award, the Golden Bear, goes to a documentary, but it was again in 2023 when Nicolas Philibert received the prize for this film about a psychiatric institution. He was deeply moved, explaining, "I tried to turn around the so discriminatory image we often have of 'crazy' people." Philibert is not just any director: in 2002 he made a deep impression with his documentary Être et avoir.

On the Seine, in the heart of Paris, floats the Adamant, an extraordinary building where people with psychiatric disorders are taken care of. Philibert gets on board and, through his observational style, introduces the viewer to the patients and the dedicated staff. We see how the residents engage in all kinds of activities together with those staff members, such as cooking, drawing and just talking about football. The result: a warm portrait of people resisting dehumanisation in psychiatry.