IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – The documentary ‘No One Cares about Crazy People’ played to a sold out theater in Iowa City Wednesday evening.
The director and producer of the film, Gail Freedman, was on hand to talk to the audience about her project and also spent time leading lectures at the University of Iowa regarding serious mental illness.
“They have been so receptive. and so engaged and it’s very hopeful, actually, that this young cohort wants to go into the services and to caretaking. And it’s very gratifying. and they engaged with some really penetrating questions and comments,” said Freedman.
It’s a documentary NAMI of Johnson County helped bring to FilmScene to show the personal realities of a failed system when it comes to supporting people with serious mental illness.
The National Institutes of Health define serious mental illness as symptoms that prevent people from maintaining employment, lead to repeated hospitalizations and often result in homelessness, incarceration or early death. This level of mental illness is far more rare and debilitating compared to more common mental health challenges such as depression.
The film follows the stories of families who have loved ones with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and struggle to manage their diseases and simply survive. And it ends with new efforts to more fully help those with these complex illnesses, rather than letting them languish.
FilmScene is the only theater in Iowa showing the documentary. Freedman is traveling the country sharing No One Cares about Crazy People, a project she spent five years creating.
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