Taking its cue from Susan Sontag's memorable remark that ‘in every society, the definitions of sanity and madness are arbitrary – are, in the largest sense, political’, this Research Workshop explores the relationship between documentary filmmaking and various "anti-psychiatry" movements and the counter-cultural critique of scientific discourse on mental illness.

Participants will explore not only how documentary filmmaking challenged perceptions of mental illness and attitudes towards neurodiversity but also how contemporary documentary forms and observational techniques inadvertently reinforce these attitudes and misperceptions. 

The format for the Workshop is that attendees are asked to read a recent article entitled 'The politics of observation: documentary film and radical psychiatry'. The article will be forwarded to attendees upon registration.