Twentyone Pictures

Synopsis

"There is no health without mental health, and there is no mental health without human rights” begins, The Recovery Channel from Filmmaker Ellen Ugelstad. Subverting traditional documentary structure to deliver authentic voices and experiences, Ugelstad gives room for reflection from each unique perspective on mental health and recovery.

The Recovery Channel is both a personal and a political film. The film is based on the directors own experiences with a younger brother who has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for 25 years. The film explores what it is like to be deprived of freedom while calling for a more humanistic view on mental illness.

The film takes an extreme and unflinching look at mental health as a human right. A human right often violated by lack of resources and training, and outdated medical treatments designed to coerce a patient, not rehabilitate them.