World Premiere
Dr Gabor Maté has become one of the world’s most influential thinkers about addiction, trauma and childhood development on the back of books like In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, The Myth of Normal and When the Body Says No. He’s pioneered the idea of Compassionate Inquiry as a therapeutic approach, and worked for over a decade on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
In Asher Penn’s Physician, Heal Thyself Dr Maté shares not only his theories, but also his personal story: his difficult early childhood in Hungary, immigrating to Canada, his experience as a journalist for the Ubyssey, and his early reputation as a contrarian. Maté candidly discusses his own struggles with pain, his complicated behaviours and fractured relationships. Physician, Heal Thyself offers hope and comfort, encouraging us to own our failings, share our struggles, and accept our imperfections.
October 5 & 6: Q&A with director Asher Penn & crew
Series Media Partner
Gabor Maté
Canada
2023
Insights
English
Drug & Alcohol Abuse
At SFU Woodwards
At The Rio
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Shannon Walsh
Producer
Asher Penn
Screenwriter
Asher Penn
Cinematography
Nathan Drillot, Jeff Lee Petry
ANIM
Greydon Luterbach, Salome Siktank
Editor
Liam Sherriff
Original Music
Kara-lis Coverdale
Director
Asher Penn
Over the past 15 years, Asher Penn has conducted, edited and published over 150 interviews with cultural figures ranging from William Gibson to Grimes. He is the producer of the experimental documentary Maggie Lee’s Mommy. Physician, Heal Thyself is his first feature film.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Company of Strangers
In this Canadian gem, seven elderly women find themselves stranded when their bus breaks down in the wilderness. With only their wits, memories and some roasted frogs' legs to sustain them, this remarkable group of strangers share their life stories.
Madonna: Truth or Dare
A year in the life of Madonna at the height of her fame, touring Blonde Ambition through 1990. There's concert footage, but the movie is also daringly truthful about life behind the scenes — not that Madonna is every really off-stage.
The Leopard
Lampedusa's elegiac account of a 19th century Sicilian aristocrat, Prince Salina, fading into history is one of the pinnacles of Italian cinema, an epic which influenced the tempo and gravitas of The Godfather, Age of Innocence and The Deer Hunter.
