In recent years, we have increasingly come into contact with friends, sisters, and acquaintances who suffered from mental complaints. As loved ones, we experienced that it is not self-evident how you should deal with this. From that perspective, we investigate in the documentary 'Zware Materie'. Using different art forms and intimate interviews, we provide a fresh outlook on this extremely important topic. This way, we hope to contribute as a maker, friends, brothers, or acquaintances to making mental health a topic of discussion.  

In the documentary, we speak with Alexander, a friend we lived with during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020. Alexander had been battling severe depression for years but rarely talked about it. By spending more time together during the lockdown, we became increasingly aware of the problems Alexander faced daily. Initially, there was a lack of understanding about his situation. For example, one moment everything seemed fine during a game of soccer, but five minutes later, he was completely done with it. By talking with Alexander, we learned to understand our friend better and could handle his situation more effectively.  

Depression is an illness. The documentary shows that everyone experiences this illness in a different way. Everyone who experiences depression has their own story. The goal of this documentary is not to understand depression. The goal is to encourage people to show understanding for each other's stories.

Nominated for the Abbey Film Festival and winner of the “Narafi Most Outstanding Editing Award”.