The legacy of Sigmund Freud is a slippery subject indeed. Whatever your opinion on the founder of psychoanalysis, there is no denying his incalculable influence on science, art, culture and even language for over 100 years through his writings and the revolutionary ideas he put into practice. More Alive Than Dead presents a dialogue on his influence, noting society’s changing views over the decades. Was he truly a scientist or merely a best-selling theorist with unverified speculations and insufficient evidence? An original thinker or an appropriator of the ideas of others? A great sense of humor characterizes this examination of the “Freud Wars.” Tongue-in-cheek, filmmaker Tzachi Schiff writes, “This film exposes—for the first time ever—the unconscious of the person who conceived the unconscious,” acknowledging the nervous humor that surrounds Freud and his ideas. In recent decades, Freudian psychoanalysis has taken a back seat to more straightforward (and less controversial) forms of therapy. But with Freud still being taught in colleges, permeating the culture and very much a reference point in any discipline, the tide may turn in his favor yet again. Accompanied by segments of hilarious animation, experts weigh in on his influence on psychoanalysis, literature, neurology, the LGBT community, the economy and feminism. In other words, just about everything. —Neha Talreja
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE