Adelaide Film Festival: On the Adamant

There are few as skilled in the subtle, immersive and quietly revelatory art of the observational documentary as Nicolas Philibert. Here he brings his compassionate craft into the lives of those aboard the Adamant, a unique centre for people with learning and psycho-social disabilities, that floats in the middle of the Seine.

The timber-clad barge in central Paris acts as a sanctuary for patients, where they can access not only traditional therapies, but also express and extend themselves creatively.

Whether it be composing music, painting, drawing, accessing the library or cooking, we bear an unobtrusive and affirming witness to lives improving through an approach not stifled by conventional, box-ticking thinking.

A gentle film, that takes its own pace, it’s true beauty is the chance to get to know more of the people who visit and make it their home - in their own words and on their own terms, with so many gems of sadness, wisdom and wonder.