We Cannot Unsee. (360G-Wellcome-105535_Z_14_Z)

As the British Film Institute stages a major retrospective of Science Fiction film, We Cannot Unsee asks: can science-fiction get closer to the lived, subjective experience of psychological disorders than written, codified scientific definitions, like those contained in DSM-IV? We Cannot Unsee is initiated and overseen by British Film Institute, in collaboration with no.w.here, University of the Arts, London and researchers based at Kings College London. The project takes its title from the d escription of someone suffering from Palinopsia, a condition whereby after images appear to linger - a prime example of a condition that begs to be explored via film, not words. We Cannot Unsee will result in a number of short, experimental films that explore the potential of science-fiction imagery and narratives to communicate the ways people experience a range of symptoms associated with psychiatric and brain disorders. With the support of no.w.here, a visual research and development labo ratory for artists, emerging artists (studying at or recently graduated from UAL colleges) will create films in collaboration with Vaughan Bell, Lidia Yaguez-Hervas, Zerrin Atakan from the Institute of Psychiatry Kings College and Pat Walsh from the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics. The project will also seek input from those who experience these symptoms first hand. By utilizing film - a visual form which offers alternative non-linear, non-verbal impressionistic ways to convey experience - We C annot Unsee aims to deepen our understanding of symptoms associated with pathopsychologies, and reassign agency to those who experience them.