Kalina Bertin is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, most noted for her 2017 film '' Manic''. A 2013 graduate of the film studies program at the

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

, she made ''Manic'' about her siblings' struggles with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

.T'Cha Dunlevy
"'So exposed': Filmmaker's debut, Manic, mines her family's mental health history"
''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', February 1, 2018. She ultimately uncovered the story of her biological father, a

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

ian cult leader who also suffered from bipolar disorder, and who had, unbeknownst to Bertin until making the film, also fathered at least 12 other children with four other women. ''Manic'' premiered at the 2017

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and Jun ...

, where Bertin was selected by Daniel Cross of

EyeSteelFilm EyeSteelFilm is a Montreal-based Canadian cinema production company co-founded by Daniel Cross and Mila Aung-Thwin, dedicated to socially engaged cinema, bringing social and political change through cinematic expression. Today the studio is run by ...

as the recipient of a $5,000 grant for emerging women documentary filmmakers. ''Manic'' received a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

nomination for Best Feature Length Documentary at the

6th Canadian Screen Awards The 6th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 11, 2018, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2017.

, and a

Prix Iris Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who ...

nomination for Best Documentary Film at the

20th Quebec Cinema Awards The 20th Quebec Cinema Awards ceremony was held on 3 June 2018 in Montreal, to recognize talent and achievement in the Cinema of Quebec. It was hosted by actresses Édith Cochrane and Guylaine Tremblay, who also jointly hosted the 2017 Prix Iris. F ...

. The film was also shortlisted for the

Prix collégial du cinéma québécois The Prix collégial du cinéma québécois is an annual Canadian film award, presented to a film from Quebec judged as the best of the year by a jury of students in film studies programs at the province's CEGEPs.Léa Carrier"Je m’appelle humain re ...

in 2019. Bertin has also been a cinematographer and camera operator on other documentary films, including ''Byblos'', ''Prisons Without Bars (Prisons sans barreaux)'' and ''

7 Beats per Minute ''7 Beats per Minute'' is a 2024 Canadian documentary film, directed by Yuqi Kang. The film is a portrait of Jessea Lu, the Chinese freediver who nearly died during a 2018 attempt to set a new world record in her sport, centring on both the inci ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertin, Kalina Canadian documentary film directors Canadian women documentary filmmakers Canadian women film directors Canadian cinematographers Film directors from Montreal Université du Québec à Montréal alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)