Paraphrenia

I wrote the short story “Delirium” back in 1995, I was only 15 years old back then, about a girl returning back home from work late at night, fearing that a stalker is following her. Under the pressure of fear, she experiences once again the day her mother died, the exact same day as she got her first period. The stalker eventually attacked her and killed her. Three days later, a young couple, who just had their first kiss, discover the body. The case proved to be suicide.

I am fascinated by the human mind and the complexity of its structure. Psychology has come a long way since the early 1900's, when lobotomy was still considered the only treatment for mental patients, but still, in most cases there are only drugs subscribed, which turn the patient into a zombie. There is a strong connection between family structure and how a person grows up and how his or her DNA and brain translates the information. Many serial killers had a normal life, lovely parents and no problems in school, yet somehow ended up hating themselves or other people. Teenagers, who one day grab a gun and shoot other kids in their school, most of them had no real problems. The only proven explanation and the only possible link, is what all of them have stated in one form or another, about women or men around them not finding them interesting or attractive enough. Sex is in most cases the real problem, how people understand what sex is, why we do it and what forces us to be wanted by others. I believe that there is enough unexplored ground and inside the movie there are some very strong statements about family and sexual relationships. My goal is to provide some food for thinking and probably to provide some new ideas to scientists and to all the viewers about one of the last taboos of human society, MENTAL ILLNESS.

The rare cases, which are described as the Fregoli Delusion, are not a new thing for cinema in general. Together with the Capgras Syndrome (where the patient believes that a person is replaced by another or that someone is dead), those two syndromes are explored in such movies like The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, The Thing From Another World and their sequels (The Invasion with Nicole Kidman, John Caprenter's The Thing) and also in other sci-fi thrillers. In all of those movies, a real-life syndrome has been replaced by an alien invasion, where in fact the reality is way more fascinating. In some cases like Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, similar themes were explored but never explained in detail.

While the word Schizophrenia is very common in almost all the languages, words like Paraphrenia, Ideophrenia, Hebephrenia and Zygophrenia are totally unknown. HEBEPHRENIA is the right word for problematic teenagers who seek help but cannot find any. I strongly believe that when such a term surfaces, can help people to realize part of the problem and also demand some new rules, new exams, psychological support in schools. Parents can use the term to realize how common such a problem is and how to help their kids. LYPEPHRENIA is another term that we have to use more often, feeling sadness without reason. The realization that there is a term for that, might possibly help at least 50% of the population to find solutions to their problems, without just calling it melancholy and being called pessimists. APHILOPHRENIA, feeling unwanted or unloved is a common feeling that most humans experience some time in their lives, still nobody uses the term, to finally accept it as a condition which can be fixed. ZYGOPHRENIA is what every person on this planet experiences inside a marriage or a relationship, but isn't able to explain, why we all get bored and sick of one another and why relationships don't last long. My point is that, terms can help us make our lives better, can educate us and can eventually evolve us as a species. I am convinced that cinema can educate and help people, for me is not just about entertainment. PARAPHRENIA is a generic term, exactly like Schizophrenia, which can provide some ground for new discussions among viewers. As a word is it accurately translated as something that goes beyond the human mind, crazy, lunatic, way more accurate as a word compared to Schizophrenia, which translates as a brain divided in two.

The other main focus inside the movie, apart from relationships, family structure and society, is how new technologies have infiltrated our lives, especially the DEEP WEB or DARKNET, which according to studies is 96% of all the internet, while the public internet like Facebook, YouTube and Google are still just 4%. I wanted to explore the connection between criminality and violence and the deep web and also to make the term understandable to viewers who don't know much about the internet. The dangers and the horrors inside cannot be even compared to the mild violence found in most horror movies and thrillers. I believe that if we can understand how life actually works and that the person next door might be really dangerous, we can protect ourselves and our children from all the gruesome horrors and dangers, or at least be aware and simply try to do it. There are things that can change a person forever, and my goal is to make the viewer think, to make him realize that real life is sometimes scarier that the most shocking thriller and horror movie. I believe that when people start to think differently, they slowly change and they evolve, they become better persons. Cinema for me is a vehicle to provide hundreds or thousands of hours of researching in just under 2 hours for the viewer.