Title: The Friendship Bench
Year: 2024
Country: Zimbabwe
Language: English, Shona with English Subtitles
Director: Reabetswe Moeti-Vogt
Awards: AWARDS
SAGE Encounters Refinery Best Edited Film Award | Encounters Film Festival (World Premiere)
Best Documentary for South Africa | SOTAMBE Zambia International Film Festival (ZAMIFF)
It is hard to believe that Zimbabwe only has about 10 psychiatrists. Luckily there was one by the name of Dr. Dixon Chibanda who had to come up with a different approach to the mental health crisis of the nation. His only option was thinking outside his profession and came up with the idea of using Grandmothers (Gogos) and training them in cognitive therapy to treat mental depression. He decided to use public benches where the Gogos could sit on a 1 to 1 basis with a client and tell their stories to deal with the lives of the clients. He initially started with 14 grandmothers and expanded this throughout Zimbabwe and beyond neighboring countries to nations around the world. This vision is known as the Friendship Bench. Not only did he find Grand mother but also encourage male Gogos to do the same with their own male clients that they might find feel more comfortable with their issues.
The film is extremely uplifting and has such a sensible approach to an almost unsolvable situation.
