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MAY 20 - 7PM - THE LITTLE THEATER
MY DAD'S TAPES
Documentary - 82 minutes – Canada 2024
On August 9th, 2006, Leonard Watson dropped his 8-year-old son off at summer camp. That was the last time anyone saw him. No bags packed, no calls, no movement in the bank account, and no note. Leonard had disappeared from everyone in his life, leaving his wife and 3 young kids behind. He was considered a missing person until he was found dead 30 days later of an apparent suicide. Now, 14 years after his passing, 22-year-old filmmaker Kurtis Watson discovers a trove of home videos – hundreds of hours recorded by his father over fifteen years leading up to his death. Kurtis was only 8 years old at the time of his father’s death and seeing him in the tapes surfaces his unprocessed grief which he realizes may be contributing to his own struggles with mental health and sexual identity. He embarks on a cathartic journey to honor his dad’s memory and investigate how and why he ended his own life.
PANEL DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW
PANELISTS
Kurtis Watson (speaker)
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (moderator)
Kurtis Watson (speaker)
Kurtis Watson shares his own story in My Dad’s Tapes, a personal documentary where he is both the director and subject.
In his own words:
“Creating this film has given me a better understanding of who I am, who my father was, and the importance of mental health awareness. My Dad’s Tapes will appeal to specific audiences interested in
Kurtis Watson shares his own story in My Dad’s Tapes, a personal documentary where he is both the director and subject.
In his own words:
“Creating this film has given me a better understanding of who I am, who my father was, and the importance of mental health awareness. My Dad’s Tapes will appeal to specific audiences interested in themes around mental health and suicide prevention awareness. But we like to think we've also told a compelling universal story, that can help bring more awareness to these themes. The story of a family healing together by confronting a situation and grieving is one that many families go through but not often told. It is our hope that this project will ultimately encourage audiences to reach out to their loved ones and have conversations about mental health. The more these conversations are brought out into the open, the more we help to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health.”
Rob Viscardis (speaker)
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (moderator)
Kurtis Watson (speaker)
Rob is an award-winning filmmaker and editor whose work has been screened at leading festivals such as Hot Docs and DOC NYC. His latest film is a short doc called Power of the Walk (Director, Editor, Producer) which premiered at DOC NYC in 2024. His latest feature documentary My Dad’s Tapes (Producer, Editor) premiered at Hot Docs in 2024
Rob is an award-winning filmmaker and editor whose work has been screened at leading festivals such as Hot Docs and DOC NYC. His latest film is a short doc called Power of the Walk (Director, Editor, Producer) which premiered at DOC NYC in 2024. His latest feature documentary My Dad’s Tapes (Producer, Editor) premiered at Hot Docs in 2024 and was the #11 Audience Favorite. The Canadian Labor Film Festival awarded 3 awards to his 2019 doc Town of Widows (co-director, co-producer, editor, DP) which had its broadcast premiere on CBC Docs POV. There is a thread of social justice running through much of Rob’s work, and many of his projects have been financed and produced resolutely outside of traditional funding sources and often with minimal resources, showing a keen determination to get projects made and completed.
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (moderator)
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (moderator)
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (moderator)
Larry Guttmacher is one of the founders of Reel Mind. He is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities at the University of Rochester. In past lives he has served as an Associate Dean in the Medical School, a Director of Psychiatry Residency Education, and as Clinical Director of the Rochester Psychiatric Center. He is
Larry Guttmacher is one of the founders of Reel Mind. He is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities at the University of Rochester. In past lives he has served as an Associate Dean in the Medical School, a Director of Psychiatry Residency Education, and as Clinical Director of the Rochester Psychiatric Center. He is an active volunteer at St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center, teaches both medical students and psychiatry residents, and conducts asylum evaluations with the Rochester Human Rights Initiative. He continues to be amazed and delighted with the community that Reel Mind has developed over the years.
MAY 27 - 7PM - THE LITTLE THEATER
SILENT MEN
Documentary - 88 minutes – Scotland/UK 2024
Part therapy, part road trip, BAFTA award winning filmmaker Duncan Cowles asks men how they open-up in order to directly address his own difficulties in being intimate and open with his loved ones. With profound honesty and deadpan wit, SILENT MEN intertwines awkward conversations and the filmmaking process, asking what makes men tick, and more importantly, how to come to terms with all aspects of health, both physical and mental. Exploring aspects of masculinity that all too often are little discussed, this film opens the door for other ways of being, communicating and healing, as well as attempting to define masculinity.
PANEL DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW. SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON
MAY 29 - 7PM - THE LITTLE THEATER
A TATTOO ON MY BRAIN
Documentary - 32 minutes – US 2024
Dr. Dan Gibbs, a neurologist, becomes his own patient when he suspects something is wrong with his brain. Gibbs and his wife Lois, become examples of how people may slow down the onset of memory loss and savor the joy of being alive.
PANEL DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW
PANELISTS
Dr. Dan Gibbs (speaker)
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (speaker)
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (speaker)
Daniel Gibbs, subject of the film, is a retired neurologist in Portland, Oregon with Alzheimer’s disease. His first symptoms of Alzheimer’s occurred in 2006 when he first noticed decreased ability to smell along with olfactory hallucinations called phantosmias. In 2015 he was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s dis
Daniel Gibbs, subject of the film, is a retired neurologist in Portland, Oregon with Alzheimer’s disease. His first symptoms of Alzheimer’s occurred in 2006 when he first noticed decreased ability to smell along with olfactory hallucinations called phantosmias. In 2015 he was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease. Having spent 25 years caring for patients, many with dementia themselves, he is now an advocate for early recognition and management of Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (speaker)
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (speaker)
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (speaker)
Dr. Guttmacher has been writing and speaking about his evolving personal battle with Lewy Body Disease. He is one of the founders of Reel Mind and an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities at the University of Rochester. In past lives he has served as an Associate Dean in the Medical School, a Director of Psychiatry Resi
Dr. Guttmacher has been writing and speaking about his evolving personal battle with Lewy Body Disease. He is one of the founders of Reel Mind and an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities at the University of Rochester. In past lives he has served as an Associate Dean in the Medical School, a Director of Psychiatry Residency Education, and as Clinical Director of the Rochester Psychiatric Center. He is an active volunteer at St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center, teaches both medical students and psychiatry residents, and conducts asylum evaluations with the Rochester Human Rights Initiative. He continues to be amazed and delighted with the community that Reel Mind has developed over the years.
Dr. Hochang B. Lee (moderator)
Dr. Larry Guttmacher (speaker)
Dr. Hochang B. Lee (moderator)
Hochang Benjamin (Ben) Lee, M.D. is the John Romano Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Chief of Psychiatry at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, and Regional Chief of Psychiatry for the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Dr. Lee is board certified
Hochang Benjamin (Ben) Lee, M.D. is the John Romano Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Chief of Psychiatry at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, and Regional Chief of Psychiatry for the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Dr. Lee is board certified in psychiatry with sub-specialty certification in psychosomatic medicine. His primary clinical interest is in behavioral aspects of dementia care, especially among those elders with multiple medical comorbidities. Dr. Lee completed psychiatry residency and combined neuropsychiatry/psychiatric epidemiology fellowships at Johns Hopkins after earning his MD at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1997.