Billy
Catalogue Number: VITAL1
Producer: Vital Distribution
Producers: Stojanovic, Vuk
Directors: Côté-Collins, Lawrence
Producing Agencies: Vital Distribution
Subject: Criminal Justice & Law, Documentary, Guidance, Health and Medicine, Psychology, Social Issues, Social Sciences
Language: English
Grade Level: Post Secondary, Adult
Country Of Origin: Canada
Copyright Year: 2025
Running Time: 105:38
Filmmaker Lawrence Côté-Collins finds her attacker in prison. She wants to understand, forgive, and support a suffering man. Billy is schizophrenic and his worst attack left two people dead. Their epistolary prison friendship sheds light on the truth about this mental illness which was neither diagnosed nor treated. Together, they tell their stories and reconstruct themselves through intimate correspondence and unpublished video archives.
Film is in French with English subtitles.
Grand Jury Prize – 5th Terraviva Film Festival – Italy, 2024
Student Jury Award – 5th Terraviva Film Festival – Italy, 2024
Student Jury Award – 27th RIDM (Montreal International Documentary Festival) – Canada, 2024
Special Jury Prize – 50th SIFF – Seattle International Film Festival – USA, 2025
Special Mention – 12th Dieppe Canadian Film Festival – France, 2025
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