Breaking the chains: ethnographic film-making in mental health

Abstract

A few years ago I took a break from my position as a researcher at the Global and Cultural Mental Health Unit at the University of Melbourne to pursue further studies in visual anthropology. I wanted to develop my skills in using photography and film—two tools I am passionate about—as research instruments in my fields of interest, cultural psychiatry and global mental health. Harry Minas, the Unit director, had collaborated for several years with the Indonesian Ministry of Health; thanks to this support I was, albeit with a few hurdles, given access to research (by means of ethnographic film-documentary) an issue I felt strongly about: the violations of human rights of people with mental illness.