Censured in Canada Film Festival

Pretty excited to be part of a new festival taking place next month (January) in Toronto. The Censured in Canada Film Festival was started by Stephen Chen because he found a "disconnect between the openness / diversity / multiculturalism that Canada promises and the lack in its cultural forms and institutions rather galling." Tired of the duplicity, Chen "had to do something about it." Amen brother. More info here, Mars Project will be playing on Saturday, Jan. 24 at Cinecycle at 401 Richmond.

On sale at the MIA store

Copies of the film (and DVD special features) now available on the Mad in America online store!

2 Continents, 2 Countries

Had the opportunity to show the film at the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival in Edinburgh, Inverness and Glasgow as well as in Boston (well Arlington, Massachusetts) at the 1st ever Mad in America Film Festival. T'was a whirlwind voyage, but totally worth it!

Cool to experience the Toronto - Edinburgh connection in the Mad Studies community. Thanks is due to the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and the SMHAFF for providing funding, making the trip possible in the first place.

Fun, challenging, intriguing Q&A and panel discussion at all the screenings, these shots from the session in Edinburgh.

 An intimate screening, Q&A and panel discussion in Inverness.

Nice little mention in one of the indie papers in Scotland, also got some shout-outs here and here and here.

Jonathan Balazs & Danielle Landry at @grosvenorcinema after screening the Mars Project. #smhaff2014 pic.twitter.com/vjq7hZyr9d
— SMHAFF Festival (@SMHAFF) October 8, 2014

The only record of our screening in Glasgow, director and associate producer holding it down.

Then a jet back to North America for the MIA Film Festival, met some cool people, forged some excellent connections. American audiences love their movies and laughed, gasped or otherwise reacted at all the right moments.

All access baby!

Director guest blog post for Mad in America Film Fest.

Got a chance to do a little blog-post, promoting the film Oct. 11 at the Mad in America Film Festival, you can read the whole thing here.

It never felt right, questioning depression, schizophrenia or addiction, but I got a kick out of abnormal psychology, and the discovery of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (D.S.M.) with all it’s explanations for disorders I never knew existed. I took for granted that Mad Peoples’ stories were steeped in delusion, because crazy people talking was just crazy-talk and doctors had the answers.

At SMHAFF October 2014

Excited to be a part of the festival again this year, but in 3 cities: Glasgow, Edinburgh & Inverness!

At the M.I.A. Film Fest Oct. 2014!

Reviewed in Halftimeonline

"There are several talking heads throughout the flick expounding on the limitations and the flaws within the field but with no true solution which brings us back to Khari. Ultimately, the film is a snippet of his life. There’s no happy or sad ending, no cure or real improvement just a man trying to deal with his everyday struggle."

- JButters, Halftime Magazine

A few words from Reel Roy Reviews

"The film pointedly critiques a society that often labels “mentally ill” those folks who view the world differently. In watching Addi and hearing him articulate his understandable frustrations with Khari, the viewer may intuit a rush to judgment that occurs out of annoyance and jealousy as much as it does concern for his brother’s well-being."

- Roy Sexton, Reel Roy Reviews

in Canadian Film Review

"Where the doc does grab your attention is in the one on one conversations with Conspiracy, and with his brother Addi “Mindbender” Stewart. Addi notes that sometimes he thinks he isn’t that far away from being like his brother and it scares him, and we can see that in his interactions with his brother. Being a fellow rapper, and also having dealt with substance issues, he can understand, but still butts head with Khari. He loves his brother but used to sleep with a knife for protection, for example. You can see how their relationship is both broken and tethered together by Khari’s transformation."

- Alexander Hutt, Canadian Film Review

Another positive review

Not sure why, but "Balazs" is misspelled a number of times – still grateful for the review, thanks Independent Critic, read the whole thing here.

The brilliance of Toronto filmmaker Jonathan Balasz's 62-minute documentary is that he seems to make a conscious choice to not so much take sides as to simply celebrate the complex journey of a gifted artist and beautiful soul. Conspiracy debuted in the 1990's, but his career was at least modestly derailed by his being diagnosed with schizophrenia despite his own assertion that the voices he hears, in particular that of a demon known as Anacron, actually serve as inspirational guides for who he is and the music/art he creates.

This Magazine - Jan/Feb 2014