SoulShadows (SeelenSchatten)

Depression is a swamp;
there are no maps,
and the path is often covered in fog.
Charles E.

Two women and one man, all suffering from severe depression, are accompanied by a documentary filmmaker for a period of one and a half years. Starting point for the film is their acute depressive phase. How does the illness affect their lives? How do they experience their stays in the psychiatric clinic? At what point do they feel healthy once again? SoulShadows explores the darker side of the human spirit and the many facets of depression. The goal of the film: to promote understanding of those people who, even today, are still stigmatized because of their mental illness.


I didnt see anything but black; the hole that I myself was in.
- Charles E.


With housework it was a catastrophe. If my son came to visit, I let the dirty dishes sit around til the following Saturday. Did nothing... no laundry for two months...
- Hélène P.


My depression was like a protective shield, so that I realized things couldnt go on that way.
- Anonymous young woman