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2nd Professional Conference, Brain Film Fest – Mental Health in the Audiovisual Industry
The second professional conference of the Brain Film Festival, promoted by the Working Group on Psychology of the Performing and Audiovisual Arts of the Official College of Psychology of Catalonia (COPC), with the collaboration of the Acadèmia del Cinema Català, offers an experiential and reflective space to shed light on the psychological realities of the artistic and audiovisual sector.In dialogue with this year’s festival theme — the impact of the environments we inhabit on our mental and brain health— the session approaches the body as a starting point, understanding it as the first place we inhabit and as a space shaped by the precariousness, intermittency and mobility inherent to the performing and audiovisual arts.
Through the dramatization of realistic cases, the journey from distress to the request for help is traced, giving words to experiences that are often normalized or made invisible. The proposal not only highlights challenges, but also opens up possibilities for understanding, prevention and support, emphasizing the specific role of psychology as a tool for care, holding and transformation within the cultural sector.
PROGRAMME
Opening session – Inhabiting the body
From 9:30 am to 10:30 am
Through different characters from the performing and audiovisual arts sector, real-life situations linked to job insecurity, abuse, migration processes, relationships with the body and aesthetic pressure are presented. The dialogue between audiovisual and bodily language reveals how these experiences are lived, felt and embodied by different individuals.This is followed by a staged portrayal of the moments prior to a group psychotherapy session with two psychologists, where naming experiences and sharing them emerges as a pathway out of distress.
The session concludes with an open body and movement dynamic to integrate the experience in an embodied way.
Coffee break
From 10:30 am to 11:00 am
Round table and conclusions – Putting words to it
From 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Round table discussion with professionals from psychology, the performing and audiovisual arts, and related disciplines, to deepen and reflect on the situations presented.
Moderation: José Vicente Pestana.
Throughout the conference: Psychological support spacea
A psychological support booth staffed by two professionals from the Working Group, offering immediate emotional support, guidance and information on specialized resources, reinforcing the conference’s commitment to care and emotional support.
Promoted with the support of the Working Group on Psychology of the Performing and Audiovisual Arts of the Official College of Psychology of Catalonia (COPC). In collaboration with the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies (ICEC), through the Business Development Service (SDE), and with the involvement of the Catalan Film Academy, Associació de professionals de la interpretació i la direcció de Catalunya, GAC and PROA.
Participants
Silvia Alberich
Sílvia Alberich is a consultant and trainer specializing in gender and LGTBIAQ+ policies. For more than fifteen years, she has developed equality plans in the fields of labor relations, citizenship, and public policies.
She provides training and implements tools to prevent, detect, and address sexual, sexist, and LGTBIAQ+-phobic harassment effectively and restoratively. In recent years, she has focused on understanding gender biases present in data technologies. All her projects include specific indicators to measure their development and impact.
Carmen Fernández
Screenwriter of around thirty series, including Servir y Proteger, Seis Hermanas, La Verdad, Infidels, and Ventdelplà. Author of TV films such as La Princesa del Polígono. She has written the film adaptation of Mare de llet i mel by Najat El Hachmi, which will be filmed this summer. In September, Columna will publish the novel Els crims del Montseny. Winner of the SGAE Award for Children’s Theatre with Dora, la hija del Sol and the Young Readers Award from La Galera for Luzazul. She is a professor, script analyst, and radio collaborator.
Gemma Blasco
Gemma Blasco studied directing and screenwriting at Bande à Part school in Barcelona. She also trained in workshops such as Character Construction at EICTV (Cuba) or Filming in Barcelona with Abbas Kiarostami. She has directed feature films, short films, commercials, and audiovisuals for theater. La Fúria, her first feature film, premiered last year at the U.S. festival South by Southwest and nationally at the Málaga Film Festival, where it won three Official Section awards (Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Editing), as well as the Special Jury Mention at SXSW London. La Fúria was also the opening film of the D’A Festival Cinema Barcelona 2025 and has been nominated for the Forqué, Feroz, Gaudí, and Goya awards. She is currently a resident at the Catalan Film Academy’s Screenplay Residency and teaches acting while preparing her next fiction projects.
Karina Lagarrigue
Karina Lagarrigue is a psychologist specializing in expatriation, international mobility, and multicultural dynamics. Founder of Emigra Leadership, she works with profiles experiencing constant changes in home and environment and facing high emotional and physical demands: artists, elite athletes, international leaders, diplomats, military personnel, and public figures.
Her practice sits at the intersection of psychology, identity, belonging, body, and space, with a preventive and non-clinical approach, especially adapted to cultural and creative environments.
Moderator
José Vicente Pestana
He earned a degree in Psychology from the Central University of Venezuela (1993, Magna Cum Laude and top of his class). Since 2007, he has held a PhD in Psychology —Extraordinary Award— from the University of Barcelona, with a thesis on freedom in time, identity, theatrical exercises, and the complexity paradigm. Since 2001, he has been a professor at the University of Barcelona, a role he complements as a Jungian analyst. In 2024, he was recognized as a “Professor of Excellence” by the Faculty of Psychology (UB).