Hema Balasundaram

Hema Balasundaram is an alumna of University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, where she specialized in cinematography and served as the Director of Photography on two 35mm USC graduate thesis films: "Searching for Angels" and "Believe It". Her credits also include cinematography on "Soul Mates" (screened at the 2004 St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase), and producing the documentary "Unsyncables At Any Age", a festival favorite about a Southern California synchronized-swimming team with members ranging in age from 23 to 86.

Her own thesis film, "The Human Scale", received the Leon and Toby Gold Production Award at USC.

Previously based in Los Angeles, Hema freelanced as a cinematographer and gaffer, and was a fellow of Film Independent's "Project: Involve" program. She recently relocated to her home country, Malaysia, where she is pursuing work in cinematography.

Director's Statement

"As a filmmaker, it has always seemed to me that mental illness is a topic gets a lot of coverage in films, but not enough diverse coverage. The focus tends to vacillate between two poles that depict mental illness as intricately connected to either one of two extremes - extraordinary talent or utter destitution. Both are limiting, and both characterize people with mental illness as so extreme and completely unlike the rest of us.

"There is a story that has largely been overlooked - the story of people who do not fall into either category. Not geniuses or psychopaths, but just regular people trying to make it in the world.

"I made "Human Scale" to tell this story, and I decided to focus on people in their late teens and early twenties for a number of reasons. Mental illnesses commonly surface at this point, when young people are on the cusp of adulthood and dealing with major life changes. At this age, young people are expected to become self-sufficient and independent; so how do mentally ill young adults cope with the limitations of their illness while trying to move their lives forward?

"It was important to me that this story be told from the perspective of someone with first hand experience of mental illness, not their doctors or family members. I wanted to explore the experiences of someone dealing with their illness, while they were dealing with it.

"I met Matt and Keena at Daniel's Place - a drop-in center for young adults with mental illnesses. Daniel's Place allowed me to come and pitch my project at the end of a group session. Matt stood out because he was personable and intelligent. He seemed, for lack of a better word, "normal". He had a story to tell, and I felt strongly that an audience would connect to him. We started filming in November 2004, a month after we met.

I went in search of a second protagonist at various places - halfway houses, advocacy groups , outpatient clinics and hospitals. During this time, I met with over twenty potential subjects; six of whom I shot interviews and scenes with. I was looking for people at a very specific transition point in their life, so finding the right person was difficult.

"Finally, in May 2005, I returned to pitch at Daniel's Place, this time pitching specifically to a women's group. Afterwards, Keena approached me to say that she was extremely interested. I absolutely wanted her to be in the film, but she told me that she was moving back to Cincinnati in one week because her family did not want her to be in Los Angeles by herself. A few days later, she called me to say that she had decided to stay in Los Angeles, and this became the crux of her story.

"From their stories, this film emerged. My hope is that it enables an audience, at least for 26 minutes, to begin to understand what living with a mental illness feels like from the inside."