Screening Tuesday, June 14, as part of the Reel Mind Theatre
and Film Series, “Hollywood Beauty Salon” is a documentary focusing on the
clients of a beauty parlor located in the Germantown Recovery Community in
Philadelphia. The salons is part of a program to help people cope and recover
from mental health challenges and addiction, and is operated by Rachel Carr, herself a survivor of abuse who’s fought to overcome
depression and anxiety.
The film follows the planning for the Recovery Hair and
Fashion Show, an annual event organized by the salon’s clients and volunteers.
Interspersed with these preparations are interviews with the various residents
who speak about their lives as well as their daily struggles with mental
illnesses, which range from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder and depression.
Determined to combat the stigma associated with mental illness, the residents
prove that these issues are no indication that a person can’t live a
productive, meaningful life. As one declares, “I am not my diagnosis. I am not
my symptoms.”
Interestingly, the film itself plays a small role in the road
to recovery. Several of the interviews incorporate animation and reenactments
that are the result of a collaborative filmmaking workshop hosted by director
Glenn Holsten, and which took place over the course of four years. The varying
methods give each subject the means to tell their story in a way that remains
personal to them. We hear some devastating tales, but each person remains
positive, finding the strength to conquer even their darkest days, and looking
forward to a bright and hopeful future.
Tuesday’s screening
will be followed by a Q&A with director Glenn Holsten and Rachel
“Hollywood” Carr, as well as Dr. Ryan Bell of the
Rochester Psychiatric Center.
This article appears in Jun 8-14, 2016.
