Technical details
Documentary Feature - Italy - One hour 5 minutes - English, Italian (With English subtitles)
Cast and Credits
Director - Costanza Burstin
Producer - Beatrice Bergamasco
Producer - Nicolas Braguinsky Cascini
Producer - Juan Pablo Aris Escarcena
Where are the hundreds of millions of people living with a severe mental illness? Over the past four years, Costanza, Bea, Tessi, and Arvind have connected with a group of people scattered across the world who have chosen to confront and support one another, sharing a common struggle against social stigma and the extreme isolation caused by mental illness. BKS documents the experience of a community breaking the silence to open up a new dialogue. To change the narrative, the first step is to start talking about it.
Screening Details:
mental health experience. April 27th 2026. 5pm-10pm. Venue to be announced.
Director biography
- Costanza Burstin
Costanza Burstin is an award-winning Italian visual anthropologist and documentary filmmaker based in London. With a background in Anthropology of Development Studies, she has worked on gender and environmental projects in India. She trained in visual research and filmmaking at Goldsmiths University, where she directed her debut short documentary PAANI: Of Women and Water (2018), which was showcased at international festivals, conferences like COP24, and distributed by the Royal Anthropological Film Institute.
Her second documentary, Best Known Secret (2024), was co-produced with Mandorla Films and Clubhouse International, a leading global mental health organization. The film received critical acclaim, earning awards including “Best Human Rights Documentary” at the New York Documentary Film Awards and the “Stop Stigma Award” from This is My Brave Australia, recognizing it as the best film addressing discrimination and stigma in mental health.
Costanza has collaborated with international filmmakers, NGOs like Save the Children, brands such as Hyundai, and institutions including the Natural History Museum of London. Since 2021, she has worked as a producer with the creative agency Voice for Nature and has been a guest lecturer on ethnographic filmmaking at the University of Virginia, Geneva Human Rights Platform, and Milano Film School (Academia09).