At Averroes & Rosa Parks

“Averroès” and “Rosa Parks” are two psychiatric units at the Esquirol Hospital in Paris. They belong to the same network as the “Adamant”, the floating day clinic on the river Seine at the heart of Nicolas Philibert’s film Sur l’Adamant, winner of the Golden Bear at the 2023 Berlinale. In Averroès & Rosa Parks, Philibert continues his exploration of this topic. From individual interviews to meetings between patients and carers, the filmmaker focuses on showing a form of psychiatry that continually strives to make room for and rehabilitate the patients’ words. Little by little, each one eases open the door to their world. But within an increasingly worn-out health system, how can the forsaken be given a place in society among the rest?