Phil Borges launches new trailer and Kickstarter for mental health documentary, "Crazywise"

Filmmakers Phil Borges and Kevin Tomlinson yesterday launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign and released a new extended trailer for "Crazywise," a documentary on alternative solutions to the current mental health crisis.


The goal of the campaign is to raise $75,000 by June 20 for remaining production and post-production costs.

May is Mental Heath Month, and "Crazywise" embodies the need for additional education, information and resources about mental health treatments.

A 20-year fascination with shamanism leads photographer and filmmaker Phil Borges to question how Western culture defines and treats severe mental disorders. He meets and begins filming Adam Gentry, a 29-year-old former wakeboard champion who struggles with his sanity following a psychotic break. Desperate and feeling shame from being labeled with a potential lifelong disease, Gentry goes off his meds and embraces meditation. Later, after revealing his mental diagnosis, Gentry is turned away from future meditation retreats. he soon becomes homeless, alienated from his family and is living alone out of a friend's car.

While documenting Gentry's story, Borges becomes increasingly aware of the severity of the mental health crisis in America. He discovers an emerging, survivor-led movement supported by a passionate group of renowned mental health professionals, activists and scholars who are advocating for alternatives to the biomedical based standards by which most mental illness is currently defined and treated.

View the trailer and additional info on the Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/829396017/crazywise-r...

The "Crazywise" production team has spent two years filming with Gentry while conducting interviews with more than 35 experts including Robert Whitaker, Gabor Mate, Mary Olson, E. Fuller Torrey, Will Hall and Sandra Ingerman.

Borges and Tomlinson are available for interviews during the Kickstarter campaign, which runs until midnight on Friday, June 20. Backer Rewards include DVD and digital versions of the film once it's finished, sensory deprivation float sessions at Float Seattle, limited edition pieces of Phil Borges' art and workshops with the filmmakers.

The extended "Crazywise" trailer is also streaming and embeddable on the official YouTube Channel, where the filmmakers will release bonus content throughout the Kickstarter campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDks1H2bzbo

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Phil Borges, Social Documentary Photographer and Filmmaker
For more than 25 years, Phil Borges has been documenting indigenous and tribal cultures, striving to create an understanding of the challenges they face. His work is exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, and his award winning books have been published in four languages.

Borges has hosted television documentaries on indigenous cultures for Discovery and National Geographic. As an experienced lecturer, he has spoken at multiple TED talks, including TED in 2007, TEDxRainier in 2012 and TEDxUMKC in 2013. Borges directed 13 short documentaries between 2004-2012 focusing on gender issues around the world for UN Women, CARE, ReSurge, joinFITE, Foundation for Women and One Heart.

Kevin Tomlinson, Producer, Director and Cinematographer
Kevin Tomlinson has earned numerous Emmy and Telly Awards for his network news camerawork with NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS and Discovery. He has worked with clients ranging from Microsoft, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford, Cineplex Odeon to Nickelodeon and the Nationally broadcast PBS series, "Travels in Europe" with Rick Steves. Tomlinson directed and co-produced the award-winning feature documentary "Back to the Garden," which premiered at SIFF (2009) and played at more 30 international film festivals, airing both locally and nationally on PBS.