2014

De route naar het Gasthuis

Background

Leuven university psychiatry is now located on three sites: the Gasthuisberg site (new building), the Kortenberg site and the Pellenberg-Lubbeek site.
There used to be three other sites: Salve Mater in Lovenjoel and the sites St.Raphaël and St.Peter, the latter two in the ancient hospital buildings in the centre of Leuven, now a centre of Culture.

The film starts in Lovenjoel at the beginning of the 20th century and continues on the Leuven sites.

A text by professor Gérard Buyse, with voices by Jean-Michel Oberland and Lili De Vooght, tells the story of psychiatry in Leuven over seven centuries. The text is an excerpt from Professor Buyse’s 1979 speech on the 50th anniversary of the Salve Mater hospital in Lovenjoel: it is interesting to learn that at the beginning 1929 the spirit of how to treat persons with psychiatric problems is still prevalent and …is still new!

It is an artistic documentary in which 17 psychiatrists (over four generations) speak.
In alphabetical order: Gerard Buyse, Stephan Claes, Marina Danckaerts, Jeroen Decoster, Marc De Hert, Koen Demyttenaere, Lut De Rijdt, Dirk De Wachter, Paul Igodt, Jozef Peuskens, Roland Pierloot, Guido Pieters, Pascal Sienaert, Ludwina Van Bouwel, Joris Vandenberghe, Mathieu Vandenbulcke, Rudi Vermote.

The interviews are conducted by Lili De Vooght, herself a psychiatrist.
They cover a range of topics related to the history and current state of psychiatry:
How does psychiatry find its place in medicine?

The emergence of the crisis intervention service, sociotherapy,  contributions on personality disorders, psychopharmaceuticals, electroconvulsive therapy, therapeutic community, mobile teams, liaison psychiatry, psychosis, affective disorders,  disorders in the elderly. Important topics in child and adolescent psychiatry are covered.
Some psychiatrists add a personal note and some also talk about their passion for the profession.

You will also find excerpts from the interview with the architect of the new building, Stéphane Beel, and the artists Kinga and Anatoly Stolnikoff, who created 14 sculptures for the patio of the new building titled “People on the Way”, as well as several artworks for the interior of the building.

With choreography performed by a team from one of the hospital’s departments, the building is mysteriously unveiled.

Producers

Composer