The Desert of the Real

When do you know that something is real? Six people who have experienced psychosis take the viewer into their experiences and ask fundamental questions about reality and consciousness. Despite their different backgrounds—a psychologist, a philosopher, a musician, a psychiatric care provider, an artist—they share a profound reflection on what psychosis means for how they view the world.

The Desert of the Real, the new documentary by Luuk Bouwman (Gerlach, De Propagandist), sheds light on the experience of psychosis and raises questions about how we treat people who fall outside the norm. The title is taken from the sci-fi classic The Matrix (1999).