Yasmin C. Rams’ credits include the mid-length documentary “Miriam” and the short documentary “A Life in Blue.” She co-directed the former and directed the latter. As a producer, her credits include the feature-length documentary “In Exile.” Together with her producing partner Rodney Charles, Rams founded the production company Perennial Lens.

“Go Heal Yourself” starts screening at the 2021 DOC NYC Film Festival on November 13. The fest runs from November 10-28.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

YCR: “Go Heal Yourself” is a very personal documentary about inspiring people from all over the world trying to find their own way of dealing with their chronic illnesses, ranging from Epilepsy and Parkinson’s to Multiple Sclerosis and strokes.

My own search for natural medicine which could help me with my Epilepsy constitutes the red thread [of the film]. My father, who himself suffers from Parkinson’s, plays and important role in it too: the role of the constant sceptic and my well-humored antagonist.

“Go Heal Yourself” is not a film that claims any universality. However, I hope that audiences can find hope and inspiration in it.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

YCR: I had been on a lot of anti-epileptic medication for 15 years and realized more and more how horrendous the side effects of my meds could be. When I met my friend Hillary, she had been symptom-free and allopathic-medication free for 10 years. I had never heard of anyone like her before. Her story inspired me to look for others like her, and to go on my own quest.

I went into my self-experiment rather naively. In the film, I did not shy away from portraying that naivety, since it was important to me to show the consequences such an approach could have. However, I am very happy to have gone through everything I’ve been through because it allowed me to re-connect with my body in a very meaningful way. Also, it allowed me to replace the fear I had of my Epilepsy with respect.

Furthermore, frequently going to neurologists for myself as well as for my dad, I realized that most doctors don’t have enough time to really dedicate attention to their patients today. People with chronic diseases oftentimes need more than just a pill.

When we look at the fact that even two important conventional medical disciplines— physiological medicine and psychology— don’t interact much, even though science knows of the importance the mind plays in the healing of the body, an issue of our current medical system reveals itself.

W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?

YCR: I made this film to inspire people who might have a chronic illness, as well as their friends and relatives, to keep fighting for themselves and to not see their bodies as antagonistic. As someone who has been living with Epilepsy for a few decades, I know that we as people with chronic diseases tend to see our bodies as enemies, as antagonists against which we have to fight. We lose touch and lose the connection to our own bodies.

Plus, I believe we need to stop discriminating against other medical approaches— be they from China, India, or any Indigenous culture. Since science is supposed to be about considering all options and exploring them, I hope that our film can contribute to a conversation about a more integrative medical approach, which takes the best out of all established medical approaches from around the world into account in order to create the best treatment options possible. Be it Traditional Chinese Medicine, Indian Medicine (Ayurveda), or indigenous South American medicine, all of these so-called “alternative” medical approaches are based on thousands of years of experiences. Their strengths need to be more greatly explored.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

YCR: We filmed for a period of over four years. Making a personal film in which you as the director are in front of the camera for a long period of time keeps you in a state of constant reflection about your own path. That can be quite productive and positive. At the same time, there is an absurd objectivity you gain about your life because you are constantly thinking about your own life in dramaturgical terms and structure. So, I am rather happy that I am able to live normally again now as opposed to constantly seeing my life from an outside perspective.

What was also challenging was seeing the health of one of our subjects and friends deteriorate — of course you go into a film hoping for the success of all your subjects, so it was quite tough to see one of them go through what he went through. At the same time, he kept us inspired due to the positive mindset he never lost.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

YCR: While it took us about two years to fund this film, we got quite lucky with a few funders who really connected and believed in the film. Two German regional funds, Hessen Film Fund and another, gave us money for development and production. The creative documentary slot at 3sat/ZDF (public German television) came on board after showing them a first teaser.

However, we still had a rather low budget. Since we tried to pay our crew fairly, there was not much left for the director and producers in the end. Therefore, we worked a lot on deferral and belief in the film.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

YCR: I used to want to become a fine artist. I went to Berlin to prepare my application for art school, when I saw my first really good documentary film at the Berlinale. I had never seen a proper creative documentary before, since those are usually only broadcast around 12am at night on public television.

The documentary took a meta approach, discussing a war with both sides of the conflict. It made me realize that documentary is actually the perfect medium to combine awareness-raising, compassionate activism, and art. From that point onwards, my compass was pointed towards becoming a documentary filmmaker.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

YCR: The best advice I’ve ever gotten — and which I have to remind myself of every now and again — is to never rush a film, be that as a director or as a producer. It’s about the art and not about premiering as soon as possible.

I don’t remember any bad advice I’ve gotten. I feel like any bad advice I get, I immediately put into the “trash” file in my brain. I don’t have enough space on my hard drive for it. Ha!

W&H: What advice do you have for other women directors?

YCR: Speak out and don’t underestimate yourself. Believe in yourself –more women have imposter syndrome than men, however, statistically, we deliver films under budget and on schedule.

Plus, a study has shown that in the documentary world in Germany, women are still not given big budgets. The higher the budget, the more likely it is that a man will be chosen to direct a documentary project. It’s tough to get a higher budget for a woman, so my suggestion is to try to make a big budget documentary as a female director and break that glass ceiling.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

YCR: I have to admit that I especially like watching films by female filmmakers. I feel that there is oftentimes a special feel, a different, soulful approach to the subjects, the protagonists, and the story, which I appreciate.

One of my favorite films is Alma Har’el’s “Bombay Beach.” While I am in love with her creativity, Har’el also has such a beautiful way of portraying her protagonists and putting them on an artistic pedestal. It’s particularly heartfelt and respectful.

Barbara Kopple’s “Harlan County, USA” was the first documentary that I saw directed by a woman. It is such a daring and historic film, which showed me that I, too could be that woman behind the camera.

W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you keeping creative, and if so, how? 

YCR: We were editing “Go Heal Yourself” during the first lockdown. My editor and I created our own little bubble, not meeting anyone else. That turned out to be rather productive and well-timed in a way. Afterwards, I just kept creative. I made several short experimental films during lockdown and used the time to develop creatively.

W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color on screen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make the doc world more inclusive?

YCR: Where to begin?! “Who is telling whose story” is a huge issue and a question that is not asked sufficiently— especially in the documentary world. Documentary began as visual documents from the colonizers about the colonized. However, colonialism has been over for many decades. As documentary filmmakers we need to take a good look at ourselves. We are at a point when it is time to let people from e.g. African countries and Asian countries tell their own stories. It is my opinion that white people need to cease depicting other cultures, thus allowing them to portray themselves, to represent themselves, tell their own stories because only they know who they are best.

Unfortunately, although we might speak about this issue once in a while in the documentary world, we also quickly forget about it too. Maybe that is because the draw of making films in other countries unknown to the filmmaker is too strong. However, I strongly feel that we need to discuss the topic of representation — and misrepresentation — much, much, much more seriously! We need targeted measures to first and foremost allow people to tell their own stories from their own perspectives: that is the only way to ensure that certain cultures are portrayed accurately.

In my opinion, one of the main areas to tackle for film from marginalized groups and people of color is distribution. Especially so, because if a producer doesn’t get a distributor or sales agent on board during the development of a project, the project often times never makes it to production. I remember going to European Film Market (EFM) about seven years ago and pitching a film with a Black male lead. The direct and honest answer I got was “I can’t sell it if it does not have a white male lead.” This answer changed during #MeToo and around the release of the film “Black Panther.” Distributors and sales agents— mostly white men— saw that there is actually an audience out there for non-pathological films about and by people of color and women, even if they themselves might not fully connect to them. However, we are still nowhere close to where we should be.

Since the sales and distribution world is not very diverse at all, it seems that the current players, except for certain SVOD platforms, have difficulties understanding how to market and where to best place a film by marginalized filmmakers, so that is where a big shift needs to happen.

In Germany, I am a part of a diversity working group. Together with our regional film fund, Hessen Film, we are putting together new guidelines and funding mechanisms to address the issue of underrepresentation of marginalized groups. I personally believe in quotas. In my experience most producers do not see the need to diversify their sets or cast if they don’t have to do so. Plus, quotas allow filmmakers who didn’t get a chance to pursue their careers in film, to finally get funded and develop creatively.

Another good option are incentives — such as automatic development funding for marginalized people who just produced a film, in order to develop their next film or rebates and additional support for distribution. The additional support for distribution could come in the form of additional funds to spend on marketing, so that more thought can be put into new ways of reaching new audiences. This would hopefully make the decision as to whether or not to take on a film by a person of color easier for distributors by minimizing their risk level.

Furthermore, if we as filmmakers make a film about a universal topic, such as health, I do believe in trying our best to find a diverse range of subjects that represent different communities and groups. Telling everyone’s story under one common topic can be very unifying. Of course, in such a case, it is still highly important to always seek feedback from people of the portrayed groups regarding the portrayal of the subject(s). I did that with “Go Heal Yourself”— I discussed the part about Junius, our Black subject, to my Black producing partner, and the part portraying two Colombian subjects to Colombian friends of mine to make sure that my gaze was not distorting them. As filmmakers, and especially as white filmmakers, we must try to listen and never be arrogant.