Louisa's Garden

Production and year: Poland, 2007Genre: social dramaScreenplay: Witold HorwathDirected by: Maciej Wojtyszko, Łukasz WiśniewskiMusic: Jerzy SatanowskiCast: Marcin Dorociński, Patrycja Soliman, Kinga Preis Medicaltheme: psychiatric hospital, mental illnessDescription: "Luiza’s Garden"—a film awarded the Golden Lion and the Special Jury Prize at the 32nd Gdynia Film Festival—deserves attention. It is one of the few films depicting how people with mental health issues are perceived in Polish society. The titular Luiza likely suffers from schizophrenia and lives in her own fairy-tale world. Fearing for his small-town political career, her father decides to place his daughter in a closed facility and seeks to have her declared legally incompetent. The gangster Fabio, wanting to avoid prison time, is sent to the same psychiatric hospital for observation. He is the only one who forms a lasting relationship with Luiza. He decides to protect her so that no one—not even one of the orderlies—will harm her. He makes her dependent on him, and he himself becomes dependent on her for the rest of his life