I Am Still Your Child documentary film

I’m one of the subjects of a documentary film titled I Am Still Your Child, dealing with parental mental illness. My mom was diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was quite you and my childhood was… different than a lot of other kids. I think that Megan Durnford (the writer and director) as well as the rest of the film crew have made a pretty powerful film. And one that I hope will get people talking. The film’s website is at http://iamstillyourchild.com/. The IMDB page for the film is at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8228908/.

The poster for the film was designed by the amazing Sara Morley (Design Postimage).

From the film’s website: “More than half a million of Canada’s frontline mental healthcare ‘workers’ are less than twelve years old. They’re called COPMI — Children Of a Parent with Mental Illness — and there are 575,000 of them in Canada.

I Am Still Your Child, a documentary film by Megan Durnford, explores the point of view of growing up with a mentally ill parent through the intimate and touching stories of Sarah, Jessy and Von, but their experiences speak to a much wider issue. We’ve gathered other firsthand stories here in addition to in-depth information and resources about the subject.

Children who grow up with a parent who has mental health difficulties are at risk for a host of grave repercussions, among which a much higher risk of developing mental illness themselves and reproducing a potentially toxic pattern. These children are vulnerable to life-long disability and yet they are virtually invisible to our healthcare system.

Our goal is to shed light on the issue and provide solutions that will help break the isolation in which children of a parent with a mental illness often live.”

Trailer

Streaming

The film is now streaming on the CBC’s website (Canadians can watch it for free here) and was broadcast on CBC television throughout Canada on Saturday, March 31st, 2017.

Update! A French-language version of the film can be streamed on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/tonenfantpourtoujours

Purchase

The film is now available on DVD! They can be purchased through Catbird Productions, the film’s producer, by visiting https://catbird-shop.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/i-am-still-your-child-dvd

Video Essays

In addition, a number of short video essays can be found at the film’s official Youtube page. I’ve included a couple of them below, too: