Ethnographic filmmaker and anthropologist Robert Lemelson, who combines scholarship and cinema artistry in his film series “Afflictions,” will screen two of the films to open the annual conference of the Center for Culture, Mind and the Brain.
The screening, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a Q-and-A session with Lemelson. It takes place from 3-5 p.m. Friday in Room 6050 at the Institute for Social Research (ISR).
Photo courtesy Robert Lemelson.
According to Lemelson, a UCLA professor, 150 million in the developing world suffer from mental illness. Psychiatric treatment often is limited or non-existent. But the mentally ill typically return to their homes and their lives more quickly, are hospitalized less frequently, and experience less severe symptoms than their counterparts in Western nations.
In “Afflictions,” Lemelson shows the relationship between culture and mental illness in several rural Indonesian villages, where he filmed men, women and children who suffer from schizophrenia and other serious psychiatric conditions. One of the films is “Shadows and Illuminations.” It paints a portrait of Nyoman Kereta, a rural Balinese man in his late 60s who suffers from a psychotic-like illness. The film looks at Nyoman’s history of trauma and loss, his prolonged sickness from pesticide poisoning and treatment by traditional healers. It illustrates how Nyoman’s wife’s love and support have helped him find peace in his life.
He also will screen “Memory of My Face,” which looks at the life of Bambang Rudjito, an urbanized Javanese man in his late 30s, diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. The film demonstrates the impact of globalization on how he expresses his illness and follows his treatment.
The event and the annual conference is sponsored by the ISR and its Research Center for Group Dynamics; the Center for Culture, Mind and the Brain; Center for International Business Education; and the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
