Under the Covers: A Guided Tour of Sexology
November 5, 2023, 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM. Past event.
Nightlight Cinema, 30 N High St Akron, OH 44308
Join us for a FREE event in partnership with Akron's Nightlight Cinema! This event is free, however, reserved tickets are required.
Step through the walls of the mental health hospital of the 1950s with psychiatric documentary filmmaker Robert Anderson. Breakdown exposes the conditions, treatments, and experiences of the institutional mental health system by following the story of a woman afflicted by schizophrenia. The semi-fictionalized account was filmed on-site at Essondale Hospital in British Columbia (Canada) with an acting pool pulled directly from the institution’s doctors, staff, patients, and patient families. Considered by some as “the Canadian Snake Pit,” Breakdown aimed to draw public attention to the state of the mental health system and normalize discussions of mental health. The film would result in convincing Health & Welfare Canada to cancel plans to construct a second hospital. The team at the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology will introduce the film and lead a discussion following the screening about the impact of the film, its lasting message, and ways to engage deeper with the topic of our mental health history at the National Museum of Psychology.
This event will be held at the Nightlight Cinema, located in Downtown Akron at 30 N High St.