The Rendezvous With Madness Festival opens on October 23 for its 33rd year of programming that explores mental health via films and conversations. Presented by Workman Arts, the Rendezvous With Madness Festival is the largest and longest-running arts festival in the world focused on of mental health and artistic expression.
The full slate includes 11 features films and two short programs, along with live programming, a music showcase, and a night market. Each film is complemented by post-screening Q&As and curated panel discussions.
“This year’s theme, ‘Disrupt the Focus’, is rooted in empowerment and liberation… For too long, stories have been written about us, without us,” comments Workman Arts’ Interim Executive Director Ameena Ilahi in a statement.
“Disrupt the Focus invites us to challenge the dominant narratives of mental health and addiction. The artists of Rendezvous 2025 are reclaiming their stories, shattering silence, and expanding our understanding of what it means to live with madness.”
The Festival also includes a visual art exhibit titled Lingering Echoes, curated by Nicole Marchesseau and Fatma Hendawy. The exhibition focuses on sound-centred artworks that examine themes of resistance, collectivity, and resilience, and includes pieces by artists Aliyah Aziz, Ghislan Sutherland-Timm, Middle, Tanya Louise Workman, and Winta Hagos. The opening reception takes place October 23, and the show is available at the Workman Arts OFFSITE through November 30.
Festival Highlights
The award-winning documentary #skoden by emerging Blackfoot director Damien Eagle Bear opens the Festival on October 23. The film explores homelessness, and the ways that the Indigenous community is marginalized, through the story of the man who launched the #skoden meme.
Love, Harold, a film by multi-award winning director Alan Zweig is the Festival’s centrepiece screening, which takes place on October 25. The film takes an empathetic lens to examine the multi-faceted experience of losing a loved one to suicide. Zweig lost a close friend a few years ago, which spurred him to make a film about the experience, and open up a connection with others who have lived through the experience that isn’t couched in judgment. Zweig won the inaugural TIFF Platform Award in 2015.
The Secret of Me, by UK filmmaker Grace Hughes-Hallett, also screens on October 25. It follows the story of Jim, who discovered that, as it happens with many intersex people, gender had been constructed for him while he was a child. Despite the fact that I involved invasive operations, it was and is common practice for intersex children to never be told the truth. Despite the support of the medical profession, the film offers the real story of the fallout from such practices. Jim’s story underscores the problems of a strictly binary understanding of gender.
Paul, by Canadian experimental director Denis Côté, tells the story of Paul, a man struggling with depression and social anxiety who finds satisfaction in taking on the role of a ‘simp’ – he serves women who invite them to clean their homes. He reaches out to the world by sharing his offbeat lifestyle and stories on social media, and emerges as a sweet and inspiring figure. It screens on October 29.
“Festivals like Rendezvous With Madness make space for shared public dialogues and pushing the edges of these ongoing disruptions to the focus, to our health and to our future,” Workman Arts Managing Director and Film Programming Committee lead Scott Miller Berry notes.
The festival closes on November 2 with a special screening of Diapason (2019) by Hamed Tehrani, which follows Rana, a middle-aged single mother as her life changes in a moment, and she has to come to terms with a horrific tragedy.
Festival Notes
Other than the visual arts exhibition, he rest of the 2025 Festival is presented at the CAMH Auditorium, CAMH OFFSITE and the Tranzac Club.
The Rendezvous With Madness Festival is committed to inclusivity and accessibility for all guests, staff, volunteers, and artists. Many programs will offer an Active Listener to help provide self-care and emotional support. Information for accessing support is available on the website.
All tickets are pay-what-you-wish and can be reserved in advance on the festival website with a credit card.
Workman Arts is located at CAMH, at the McCain Centre for Complex Care and Recovery at 1025 Queen Street West and is entirely wheelchair accessible. ASL interpretation will be provided for select programs.
- Find the full schedule, including films and panel discussions, and tickets, [HERE].
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