Healing A Nation/Twoub Mantal (2020)

Healing A Nation ("Twoub Mantal") tells the painful story of Jean-Richard Saintal, a former social worker from the Cité Soleil region of Port-a-Prince, Haiti, who suffered what appeared to have been a traumatic psychotic break. Jean-Richard's preventable death while in residential treatment at a psychiatric hospital in Haiti was an outrage. The documentary depicts the unfortunate and common narrative of the experiences of numerous individuals with mental disorders who seek help but often fail to receive the care that they need and deserve from the existing mental health system in Haiti. It also highlights the level of neglect, inadequate care, and potentially life-threatening conditions that many people with mental illness face on a daily basis in the country. The film aims to engage the community in a meaningful dialogue about the state of mental health care in Haiti--and the country's ill-equipped mental health infrastructure--in order to prevent future tragedies, like the untimely death of Jean-Richard Saintal, from occurring again.