JIFF: Physician, Heal Thyself

The Story

 Australian Premiere

“A probing look at the origin story of an influential mind.” - POV Magazine

Gabor Maté, best-selling writer, social critic, physician, and expert on addiction, stress, and trauma offers a searingly intimate portrait of his own life. Maté begins with his traumatic childhood experiences in Budapest during and after the Holocaust. He describes his family’s immigration to Canada, where he developed a complicated relationship to his Jewish identity, becoming a student activist, columnist, and teacher before entering medical school and ultimately serving patients in harm reduction clinics in downtown Vancouver.

With unflinching honesty, this contemporary icon unpacks the narratives he inherited and told himself, stresses the importance of self-awareness, and recounts his struggles to manage his painful past. As a life-long contrarian, Maté played an important role in breaking social stigmas around a wide range of subjects, from ADHD to ayahuasca – the South American psychoactive brew traditionally used by Indigenous folk healers for spiritual ceremonies.

Featuring archival photographs, home movies and vibrant animation, this documentary takes us inside the mind of the man once described as “the eye of the tornado.”

Festivals and Awards
Winner - Audience Award, Vancouver Film Festival, 2023

Rating

Unclass15

Duration

78 min

Cast

Gabor Maté

Director

Asher Penn