A Recoverist Month September 2023 event. Stephen is auditioning to play himself in an inventive, cinematic and moving exploration of addiction and mental health...
This film is not included in the Film Pass.
Visual artist Melanie Manchot works with a recovery group in Liverpool, who take up roles in a semi-fictional film-within-a-film that explores addiction and mental health from multiple perspectives. It is centred around STEPHEN, a character recovering from gambling and alcohol addictions. References to the first police crime reconstruction, filmed in Liverpool in 1901, are a reminder that addiction has long existed within the fabric of our culture. It’s a tough process and emotionally charged scenes reveal inner truths, which gain additional power when the people playing the roles are, in some sense, playing themselves. Visually striking, Stephen is a startling record of this form of treatment and a reminder of how dextrous the documentary form can be.
Manchot first met Stephen in 2015 when working on the multi-channel video installation TWELVE, commissioned by Portraits of Recovery.
Recoverist Month, led by Portraits of Recovery celebrates the aspirational hopes, desires, fears, and dreams of Greater Manchester people, and communities in recovery from addiction.
Event/ This special preview screening as part of Recoverist Month will be followed by a Q&A with director Melanie Manchot.
