Experiencing Interruptions?

Elevating Serotonin

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can help lift people out of the depths of severe, treatment-resistant depression and reveal a world that feels clearer and more vibrant.

Elevating Serotonin explores the stark contrast between long-term depressive symptoms and the sudden heightening of the senses immediately following ECT.

The film dramatizes the disorienting mixture of increased clarity and the emotional reawakening that some individuals experience. It captures both the vulnerability of the process and the fragile hope that emerges.

  • Minna Väisänen
    Director
  • Paul Hayes
    Key Cast
  • Paul Hayes
    Writer
  • Bi/etterminds .
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short, Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    1 minute 18 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 14, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    0 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Finland
  • Country of Filming:
    Finland
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:1 and 16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • OMNI International AI Film Festival
    Sydney
    Australia
    November 6, 2025
    Australian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • AJR VISION de Cine Independiente
    Bilbao
    Spain
    December 20, 2025
    European Premiere
    Nominee for Best Experimental Film
  • Films That Move 2025.
    St. Andrews
    Jamaica
    December 7, 2025
    Caribbean Premiere
    Honorable Selection
  • Lift-Off Sessions 2025, Volume 11. Lift-Off Global Network.
    Online
    United Kingdom
    November 16, 2025
    Online Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Minna Väisänen

Minna Väisänen is a Finnish director and visual artist working at the intersection of comics, animation, and digital media. Using mixed media, photography, vector graphics, and AI-generated imagery, she brings stories to life with striking visuals. In collaboration with Paul Hayes as Bi/etterminds, she transforms their comics into animations that explore memory, identity, isolation, and the unseen forces shaping everyday life.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Elevating Serotonin captures the fleeting intensity of altered perception—how color, sound, and pattern can suddenly feel alive. The film is less about explanation and more about immersion: inviting the audience to experience the strange, intimate layers of the mind. It’s a meditation on fragility, resilience, and those rare moments when the world bursts into vivid clarity.