While the bustling city of Paris goes about their daily business, they might pass a boat on the Seine without a second thought. But floating on this river is the Centre de jour l’Adamant. L’Adamant is a mental health facility that offers some unique and creative techniques and workshops for its day patients. Director Nicolas Philibert (Être et Avoir) follows the patients and staff as they navigate the choppy waters of mental illness in On The Adamant.

Philibert earned the coveted Golden Bear at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival for this documentary. It offers a compassionate view of the patients aboard the Adamant. As he shows them on camera, he gives them space to express themselves.  He sometimes asks questions, but largely he allows them to discuss whatever they wish. “I miss having friends,” one lady named Muriel tells him, later expressing that she wishes to “recover from madness”. One patient sings a song he has written, mostly in his sleep. One talks about how he is taunted by the voices in his mind. Another lady tells the camera, “I’ve lost my freedom,” visibly upset.  She dreams of a past life we will never know existed.

The director showcases the different personalities and maladies of his subjects with sensitivity, never feeling as if he is exploiting their illness. For some, the camera seems like a confessional – a place where they can talk about how they’ve lost family or friends due to their mental health concerns. Or, it’s a device through which they can say how the medications they’re on make the difference between voicing their rage and acting on it. It’s a thin line presenting these patients without judgement or sentimentality, but Philibert does just that.

Part of a hospital system in Paris, the Adamant runs programs that allow its patients to anchor themselves through creativity. For some it’s drawing or painting, others write, some play guitar, one man makes some jam out of fruit collected from a local market. They hold their own film festival and discussion group. As the seasons come and go on board the Adamant, new people arrive, some go, but the overall feel is the same. This is a place that thinks outside of the box so each person’s inner creativity can help them relate to the world around them, or possibly even heal.

On the Adamant is a purely observational documentary, lacking any overall narrative drive. While I’m sure this is likely a freeing way to make a film, as a viewer it can be frustrating. The film’s lack of direction makes it a slow burn. Giving these people space to talk freely means waiting for them to open up, often in silence. Certainly it’s important that these patients feel supported through the filmmaking process, but while we get hints of their histories, we never get to know them fully or what they have been through.

It seems a bit of a lost opportunity that On the Adamant doesn’t really interview or talk to the staff at the facility to hear of their challenges or successes. I believe fully that these types of artistic therapies are an important element in treating mental illness, but I want to know more. Show me more about how this fits into the general landscape of psychiatric health care or how this facility functions behind the scenes. This might have given the film more structure and intention.

That said, there are lessons to be learned from this documentary. Lessons that can begin with evaluating our levels of compassion towards each other. Lessons that include the importance of listening. Even lessons about how to start each day with positivity. Every patient has their own personality and own talents, and they can serve as a mirror for which we can look at our own ability to empathize. Nicolas Philibert sees all of this in a non-intrusive way, and each person is presented just as they are – a human being that deserves our attention and understanding.