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Als De Nacht Maar Niet Valt

Documentary on the increasing importance of prevention in mental health care. Do we really become happier when there’s no adversity or uncertainty at all?

Documentary
Time & Tickets

Prevention is playing an increasingly bigger role in mental health care. Instead of curing, health care professionals are increasingly trying to prevent mental problems, in part by collecting vast amounts of data. This development is examined in ALS DE NACHT MAAR NIET VALT. In three stories - set in the Netherlands, Norway and the United States – this documentary observes different stages of prevention: from early interventions in elementary schools, to a young man trying to prevent another psychosis.

Director Marc Schmidt is particularly interested in the price we pay for the search for our optimal selves. After all, also the negative experiences we endure make us who we are. Or as Maarten, one of the main characters in the documentary puts it, ’That psychosis was hell. But it was also very intense, like I was more myself. I still long for that sometimes'.

Documentary on the increased importance of prevention in mental health care. But do we become happier when we do not experience setbacks or uncertainty at all?

Please note that this film is in Dutch and English, with Dutch subtitles. The screening of the film will be followed by a conversation (language: Dutch) with Prof. Dr. Thérèse van Amelsvoort, psychiatrist and professor of transition psychiatry at Maastricht University.

Marc Schmidt, Netherlands, 2023, 84 min. Dutch & English spoken, Dutch subtitles.