In what amounts to part autobiographical documentary and part therapy project, Bud Clayman — a middle-aged former film student who was institutionalized for eight years — co-directs what’s subtitled “The Obsessive Compulsive, Major Depression, Bipolar, Asperger’s Movie.’’
This is not always an easy sit, as the socially maladroit Clayman conducts a wildly nonlinear tour of his life. This includes a complicated relationship with a father who employed him as the head of a family foundation, and who funded the documentary as well. (He died before its completion.)
Clayman, who has a winning sense of humor, reconnects with people he knew in college, before his problems resulted in a raft of diagnoses, and even gives speed-dating a whirl. Through it all, Clayman struggles to keep himself, and “OC87,’’ on track — and it’s easy to cheer his ultimate triumph.
Soon after college, mental illness interrupted Bud Clayman’s dreams of a filmmaking career. Thirty years later, he’s made the movie of his life. After making this documentary, Bud founded the website Recovery Diaries, which expands on that story by allowing others to share their own stories of mental health, empowerment, and change.
