Documentary Feature
Editor
Director: Margaret Byrne
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS:
Honourable Mention | Emerging International Filmmaker Award | Hot Docs
Living with mental illness takes energy, and a lot is often wasted on managing the court system, substance abuse and poverty instead of basic treatment. Filmmaker Margaret Byrne knows that exhaustion. So when Chicago's Cook County Mental Health Court offered a specialized probation for diagnosed detainees, she picked up her camera. What emerged is an exceptionally frank, multi-year diary between Byrne and three defendants: Angela, Dimitar and Daniel. But as Byrne shares the rarely seen nuances of their struggles, from Angela needing police to retrieve her toddler from her ex to Dimitar's mother having to rehouse him for his own safety, she suffers another breakdown. Can an essentially punitive system deliver meaningful treatment? Or will the ties between people with mental illness and their families, institutions and society become more precarious? With complete honesty from all involved, Any Given Day starts the hard work of truly seeing people with mental illness and restoring their dignity. —Myrocia Watamaniuk (Hot Docs)