Reel Mental with Dr. Marcia Sirota

Dr Marcia Sirota

Reel Mental is a podcast hosted by Dr. Marcia Sirota, a psychiatrist and cinephile. Each episode features lively discussions with directors, actors, writers, and film critics. Together, they delve into how contemporary films portray psychological issues and mental health in society, offering insightful analysis and diverse perspectives.

  1. 36 - Cai Shangjun & Han Nianjin Discuss The Sun Rises On Us All

    JAN 15

    36 - Cai Shangjun & Han Nianjin Discuss The Sun Rises On Us All

    In the latest episode of the Reel Mental Podcast I discuss the film "The Sun Rises On Us All" with writer-director Cai Shangjun and screenwriter Han Nianjin at The Toronto International Film Festival®. With special thanks to our interpreter Erika Li. CAI SHANGJUN | DIRECTOR Director, screenwriter and producer, Cai Shangjun graduated from China Central Academy of Drama in 1992. Cai’s screenplays include Spicy Love Soup (1997), Shower (1999) and Sunflower (2005). He wrote and directed The Red Awn (2007), People Mountain People Sea (2011) and The Conformist (2017). The Red Awn won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 12th Busan International Film Festival, the Golden Alexander Award for Best Film at the 48th Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Jury Grand Prize at the 2nd Asia Pacific Screen Award. People Mountain People Sea won the Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the 68th Venice International Film Festival, the Silver Montgolfiere D’Argent Award at the Nantes Three Continents Festival, the Critics Prize at the Black Movie Film Festival, and the Grand Prix Award at the 10th Pacific Meridian International Film Festival of Asia Pacific Countries. The Conformist won Best Actor Award at the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival and was screened in competition at TOKYO FILMex and as a Special Screening at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival. HAN NIANJIN | SCREENWRITER  Han Nianjin graduated from the University of Munich and is a freelance writer and cinematographer. The Sun Rises on Us All is her first screenplay.

    11 min
  2. 32 - Lauren Melinda Discusses Before You

    11/21/2025

    32 - Lauren Melinda Discusses Before You

    Lauren Melinda is an award-winning filmmaker, artist and founder of SIMBELLE PRODUCTIONS. Her work explores issues of feminine identity and perception, while critiquing the forces of culture and circumstance that mold the roles assigned to women. As a mixed-media artist, Lauren’s video installations have been commissioned by galleries, museums, and private collectors in North America and the Middle East, while her photographs have been sold to major collections around the world. As a filmmaker, Lauren has written and directed three short films that have screened in 52 festivals on nearly every continent – garnering the top prize at six of them. Her most recent narrative film, Before You, is playing the festival circuit and is in collaboration with Planned Parenthood. She is now developing her first narrative feature, ECHOES, in which a Persian-American artist faces a Faustian bargain when a Berlin gallery demands she exploit her heritage for success, as well as a TV series based on her Ukrainian great-grandmother, who served as the midwife to the Shah of Iran. As a mother of two young girls, Lauren’s passion for women’s issues only continues to grow in depth and perspective. Inspired by her daughters, Lauren launched SIMBELLE PRODUCTIONS in 2024, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women through film. The organization fosters female-centric stories that promote mutual validation, awareness, and hope. Most recently, SIMBELLE PRODUCTIONS Executive Produced the feature film, Satisfaction, by Alex Burunova and featuring Emma Laird, which premiered at SXSW 2025. Lauren received a dual Bachelor’s degrees in Fine Arts and Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of California, Irvine. She is based in Los Angeles. Instagram: @laurenmelindafilm @simbelleproductions  @beforeyouthefilm

    21 min
  3. 31 - Sean King O'Grady Discusses Suspicious Minds

    11/06/2025

    31 - Sean King O'Grady Discusses Suspicious Minds

    *Trigger Warning: This episode mentions suicide. Please reach out to the Suicide Crisis Helpline at 9-8-8 (in Canada) if you need help.* SEAN KING O’GRADY is an award-winning filmmaker whose work spans narrative features, documentaries, and high-profile branded content. His films have screened at Sundance, Tribeca, Telluride, Berlin, Venice, TIFF, SXSW, Sitges, Fantastic Fest, and dozens of other major festivals worldwide. Sean’s latest feature directorial effort, the Hulu Originals sci-fi thriller THE MILL, starring Lil’ Rel Howery, premiered at #1 on the platform in October 2023. His narrative debut, WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING, released theatrically by IFC Midnight, garnered critical acclaim and is now streaming on Hulu. His documentary work includes REVOLUTION: GMC HUMMER EV (History/Hulu) and OUR AMERICAN FAMILY (AMC+), the latter co-directed with Hallee Adelman. As a producer, Sean has been behind a number of acclaimed films, including Lil Rel Howery’s directorial debut HAUNTED HEIST which premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2025, Brandon Espy's 2024 Hulu Original hit MR. CROCKET, Steve Buscemi’s THE LISTENER starring Tessa Thompson, James Morosini’s SXSW-winning I LOVE MY DAD, Adam Carter Rehmeier’s Sundance breakout DINNER IN AMERICA, and Natalia Almada’s Sundancewinning USERS. His previous credits include THE ASSISTANT, LIVING UNDOCUMENTED, LAND GRAB, BIG SUR, and IN A WORLD…. Beyond film, Sean has directed high-impact branded content for LinkedIn, Amazon, Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Carhartt, Virgin Atlantic, and other global brands. SUSPICIOUS MINDS is a docuseries that investigates the disturbing rise of artificial intelligence as a trigger for delusional thinking. Through powerful firsthand accounts and in-depth interviews with leading experts in psychiatry, neuroscience, and AI ethics, the series unpacks a growing psychological phenomenon: individuals developing complex, often life-altering delusions rooted in AI technologies. From chatbots to surveillance fears, we examine how emerging technologies are reshaping the landscape of paranoia and how these modern delusions echo, amplify, and challenge our historical understanding of the human mind. Led by psychiatrist Dr. Joel Gold and philosopher Ian Gold, PhD, who together first described the Truman Show Delusion (people believing they were on a reality TV show like Jim Carrey’s character in The Truman Show) and authored the groundbreaking book Suspicious Minds: How Culture Shapes Madness (The Truman Show Delusion and Other Strange Beliefs), the series presents an urgent vision of just how dramatically culture can influence our minds. With a spirit of empathy, curiosity, and respect, we tell real patients’ riveting stories while plunging viewers deep into their mental states, as their reality becomes surreal, and then follow their journey toward managing their illness. We explore the future of treatment and prevention, and through these stories create larger conversations to help destigmatize this phenomenon. Interviews with the Golds and other top experts including psychologists, neuroscientists, ethicists, AI researchers, and cultural critics help viewers understand the science and culture behind the madness as we follow the trajectory from the Y2K-era near-future fiction of The Truman Show to tomorrow’s hyperreal, AI-dominated technological and cultural landscape — a world that would be almost unrecognizable to people living 100, 50, or even 10 years ago. The line between mental wellness and mental illness is incredibly thin, and we never know when something will trigger us, or someone we love. The goal of this series is to create awareness of these new and omnipresent digital triggers, and explore the psychological minefield we find ourselves unexpectedly living in today. For more information:  www.agoricmedia.com  www.wondermind.com  Instagram: @agoricmedia (https://www.instagram.com/agoricmedia/) YouTube: @agoricmedia (https://www.youtube.com/@agoricmedia)

    34 min
  4. 29 - Álvaro Olmos Torrico & Marisol Vallejos Montaño Discuss The Condor Daughter

    09/29/2025

    29 - Álvaro Olmos Torrico & Marisol Vallejos Montaño Discuss The Condor Daughter

    In the latest episode of the Reel Mental Podcast I discuss the film "The Condor Daughter" with writer-director Álvaro Olmos Torrico and star Marisol Vallejos Montaño at The Toronto International Film Festival®. Álvaro Olmos Torrico (Writer-director): Álvaro Olmos Torrico was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His debut feature, Wiñay (2019), was among the first Bolivian films to be released globally via Amazon Prime. He has produced both documentaries and fiction features, including "The Ones from Below" by Alejandro Quiroga (Mar del Plata IFF, 2022) and "The Visitor" by Martín Boulocq (Tribeca, 2022). He is the founder of BoliviaCine.com, the first SVOD platform dedicated to Bolivian cinema, and has taught at the Bolivian Private University and the Andean School of Cinematography. "The Condor Daughter" is his second feature film and was awarded in the Work in Progress sections of Ventana Sur and Cinelatino Toulouse during its development. Marisol Vallejos Montaño (Clara): Marisol Vallejos Montano was born in 2004 in Cochabamba, a city in the Bolivian Andes, with family roots in the nearby rural town of Pocona, home to a Quechua-speaking community and rich Inca heritage. A self-taught musician, she learned guitar at 11 and later fell in love with her grandfather's accordion, playing at local celebrations with her sister. In 2021, the family formed "Estrella del Valle", an all-female group performing traditional and popular Bolivian music such as cumbia, huayno and cueca. With no prior acting experience, she undertook intensive training in performance, ancestral singing and midwifery practices, making her film debut in the role of Clara. https://www.tiktok.com/@estrellas_del_valle  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067165715002 With special thanks to our interpreter Álvaro Girón.

    13 min

About

Reel Mental is a podcast hosted by Dr. Marcia Sirota, a psychiatrist and cinephile. Each episode features lively discussions with directors, actors, writers, and film critics. Together, they delve into how contemporary films portray psychological issues and mental health in society, offering insightful analysis and diverse perspectives.