- Shot in 2010
- 6 documentary episodes of 5 minutes followed by the filmmaker’s comments
- About 2 patients of a psychiatric hospital
- Thanks to: Louis-H.Lafontaine Psychiatric Hospital
I sometimes organize screenings/discussions where I show the series and comment it. I talk about my experience in the psychiatric hospital, mental health, de-stigmatization and the role of non-specialized artists in such issues. For info: alex@alexhamel.com
Best place to see it:
www.cle56.com (in French only, without subtitles)
Best place to chat about it:
Facebook: “Clé 56″ group (Everything is in French)
The whole thing:
Bonus: outakes (In French only)
About depression.
About cats in the hospital
About learning disability and epilepsia
About the project
Louis-H.Lafontaine psychiatric hospital published an add for a job in a newspaper. They were looking for an emerging filmmaker for the creation of web content to be used in an education campaign to demystify mental illness. At the interview, I pitched the idea of a documentary and I was hired. The hospital gave me the key 56, a master key that opens all the doors of the hospital, including the controlled treatment units… The opportunity was too good to stick to the short internship that was planned. The hospital accepted to let me work freely during many months. It allowed me to really follow 2 patients all through their hospitalization.
After
The success of Key 56 encouraged the hospital and I to keep going. The following year, I did another documentary about mental health. This time my subject was psychiatry in the community and the external residences of the hospital. In episode 6 of Key 56, I filmed them a little bit and I wanted to dive in that. The new project gave birth to Crazywood, which was eventually picked up by TV and became a long series of 8 episodes I am very proud of: Maisons de fous.