12 Days

Raymond Depardon, one of the world’s leading documentarists, once again manages to glimpse at an otherwise clandestine region, a psychiatric institution in Lyon. In his latest film (screened at Cannes this year), Depardon follows a process by which, according to French law, patients who have been admitted without their consent are seen by a judge after 12 days. Based on this encounter, the judge determines whether the patient is eligible for discharge. Depardon documents the patients’ heart-wrenching stories with humanity, and sometimes even, humor. But what is most surprising is the extent to which the people before us express a distilled perception of reality, as well as a deep understanding of our perception of them.