“I want to talk to you about the weapon of tomorrow / Born of the world, it will be the end of it / I want to talk to you about me, about you / I see inside images, colors / Which are not mine , which sometimes scare me / Sensations that can drive me crazy. » On the screen, a man, graying hair, straight back, sings with unsettling intensity The human bomb, originally performed by the group Telephone in 1979. From then on, the tone was set; the images we are about to see will strike a chord of humanity that is no longer often called upon.
The singer is aboard l’Adamant, a day center on the banks of the Seine in Paris that welcomes patients with psychiatric disorders for a meal, a coffee, a conversation or one of the many artistic workshops offered there. In this wooden barge, illuminated by huge bay windows, humans are king, and everyone’s dignity, intelligence and vision are respected, taken into account and celebrated.
In a world where mental illness is often the poor relation of medicine, where access to care is more compromised than ever, where infrastructure and resources prove deficient, Adamant borders on utopia. However, it is the wealth of possibilities underlying this initiative that led documentary filmmaker Nicolas Philibert to set up his cameras there.
“Some people make films to denounce. I could have, there’s a reason. The landscape of psychiatry in France is neglected, devastated, abandoned. Conversely, I chose to make a film to state, to show a way, to show that it does not cost more to provide this attentive care, built on relationships and listening, and which tries to help everyone. to reconnect with the world. »
A quarter of a century after first becoming interested in psychiatry in The least of it (1996), the filmmaker knew, from his first meeting with the patients and caregivers of Adamant, that he wanted to return to it.
“I first heard about the place before its foundation, from a friend involved in the project. Then, eight years ago, I was invited there to discuss my work in a workshop. The participants had watched a few of my films to prepare for the discussion. The exchange we had deeply impressed me. In psychiatry, we are not satisfied with superficial answers. The patients have an acuity, a lucidity that shook me, stimulated and challenged me. I immediately wanted to make a work about them. »
Enter the light
Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, the documentary On the Adamant is in every way a reflection of the place. By showing the caregivers and patients as they are without staging them, by entering into a relationship with them, by taking the time to sit down to listen to them, the director establishes a conversation between the subjects captured by the camera and the spectators, gently compelling them to leave their prejudices behind and enter the light.
“By emphasizing that we all belong to the same humanity, I wanted the audience to feel that they have something in common with the people filmed. I am not a neutral observer who would coldly capture images. The documentary is the story of an encounter. I bring the spectators with me. When I interact with patients, when they question me, they are talking to all of us. My job is to create a relationship of trust, to make myself accepted and welcomed. Then, I film what they want to give me,” specifies the filmmaker.
First part of a triptych, On the Adamant will be followed by two other documentaries exposing the promising measures undertaken by the psychiatric care center at the heart of this first film. The second opus will look at meetings between caregivers and patients in a hospital, while the third will focus on home visits made by the workers.