A new film that shows how a family handles the diagnosis of schizophrenia in their youngest sibling is coming to the Albuquerque Film & Music Experience festival, which begins Sept. 27.
KUNM sat down with director Alethea Root-Dufraine and actor and co-producer Jules Bruff, who began by discussing their adaptation of the novel The Good Side of Bad by Beverly Olevin.
JULES BRUFF: That was the first book of hers I read, and I fell in love with it. And I have some history of schizophrenia in my family, so I think that's why it really resonated with me. And I just thought it was so beautifully written. So I got the rights in 2017. And then I asked Althea if she wanted to work on it with me, and we made our first feature film together called Part Time Fabulous and, and that was a mental health theme film
ALETHEA ROOT-DUFRAINE: Yeah, so Jules was excited about this book, she sent it to me. I had just had a baby. And I literally read it every single time he was napping, I just loved the book. And I loved its messaging and how it was told and how relatable the families were, and just fell in love with it. So we jumped in.
KUNM: What kinds of reactions have you guys had so far?
BRUFF: Nearly everyone we spoke to in pre-production, development, production, post-production, whenever we shared what the movie's about people are like, Oh, I know someone who has schizophrenia. And that was eye-opening to know that nearly everyone knows someone.
ROOT-DUFRAINE: And one of the reviews that we got was from a psychiatrist. And he was basically like, you're doing my work for me, and you're so honest in your depiction of it, and you don't sugarcoat stuff, but you're not degrading, either. And then another review came from actually a woman who has schizophrenia, and she's very public about her schizophrenia. And she loved that we chose not to show what the visions look like, or what they sound like. She's like, everyone always gets that wrong. And you guys didn't include it, which was 100%. She appreciated it. And that was a big choice that Jules and I made together as far as the creative. And so making that choice has really paid off.
KUNM: I know a lot of the inspiration comes from the book, but the relationships in the film, they feel so real and personal. And I wanted to know if there was any other inspiration that the family dynamic came from?
BRUFF: I think Althea, her vision of siblingry and how it works, is really, I think, what informs so much of the family dynamic.
ROOT-DUFRAINE: Yeah, and absolutely, my cousin, her father has schizophrenia. And one of my best friends, her brother has schizophrenia, I would talk to both of them like nonstop during the filming process, I talked to my friend a lot, actually, during the writing process, I've talked to her a lot. She would describe emotionally how she felt and then what it looked like for her, dealing with her brother. And so I took those conversations, informed me and then also, through the making of this film, my cousin for the first time, used the word schizophrenia in relationship to her father, which she never had. And so then that opened up a whole conversation that I could constantly have with her.
KUNM: Jules, what it was like for you to play your role as the oldest sister and mother figure, Sara?
BRUFF: It's a lot to be human, right? So, I wanted to hold space and show, Okay, here's someone who wants to help, and is doing the best she can. And her life is also going on, and actually helping is sort of throwing her off a little bit. And it's not to show, Oh, poor her, but just to be like, Yeah, this is kind of what happens. So yeah, I think I just wanted to show a real human and that it's hard and that you can do it.
KUNM: Why do you think this subject will resonate with people in New Mexico?
BRUFF: Well, when we were doing research for our press release, we looked up the numbers and it looks like the numbers are pretty high, of people struggling with any kind of mental health issue. So I think hopefully, it'll resonate and it'll give people hope not to give up, and that asking for help you hopefully find help, and that we're better together.
The film Good Side of Bad screens on Saturday at 7pm. The film was awarded an Interim Agreement to screen film festivals from SAG-AFTRA. The filmmakers stand with the union in their strike.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available by calling or texting 988.
