ANY GIVEN DAY featured in the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

Success is a journey.

By  Neil Steinberg

Dec 17, 2023

You don’t often see a judge cry.

But Cook County Circuit Court Judge Lauren Edidin was repeatedly brushing away tears on Thursday — though she would be quick to point out it was not in her own courtroom but at a decidedly emotional event: the latest graduation ceremony of the Skokie Mental Health Court.

“I’m really going to try not to cry,” she told those gathered at the 2nd Municipal District courthouse in Skokie.

Mental Health Court is one of three types of Cook County’s 20 “problem-solving courts.” The other two are veterans court and drug court. Rather than trying to punish non-violent offenders — the accused must plead guilty to participate — these courts try to address the problems that pave the way for criminality.

“We help participants learn how to live and succeed with their illness,” Edidin said. “This program exists to help participants find long-term housing, set up treatment plans, receive job training, obtain insurance and Social Security benefits. The program formulates individual plans, based on participants’ specific needs.

Also present was Margaret Byrne, a filmmaker whose “Any Given Day” is a documentary on three mentally ill Chicagoans and featuring Edidin and the Mental Health Court.

“It was used as professional development for Cook County judges,” Byrne said. “That was something I was really proud of.”

The movie won the Chicago Award at the 2021 Chicago International Film Festival. It’s available for the next month on PBS World Channel and is well worth watching.

Mental illness can be a bleak subject, but Byrne’s film gets viewers past that.

First, it’s just beautiful to look at — the way she frames scenes, diving the screen in interesting ways, projecting the passage of time, which is an essential quality experienced by those trying to escape the chutes and ladders maze of mental illness.

Second, how she builds interest in her three subjects, tracking their peaks and valleys.

Daniel Brown, who was present in the courtroom, having turned his life around, gone to culinary school and now hoping to open a food truck.

“I been on the bottom,” Brown says in the movie. “Now, I feel I’m a part of the human race.”

Byrne is now working on a film about a string of wrongful convictions tied to retired CPD Det. Reynaldo Guevara.

In “Any Given Day,” she folds herself in among the mentally ill whose lives she chronicles.

“I figured out that the things I worked so hard to hide, don’t need to be hidden,” she says. “That there’s power in connecting ... Success does not just look like one thing. Success is a journey.”

ANY GIVEN DAY ENCORE BROADCAST JULY 20 8/7c

Daniel smokes outside Albany Care, a residential mental health facility in Evanston, IL. photo by Margaret Byrne

By: Emma Sanderson

In a brutally honest, brutally beautiful dive into the reality of living with mental illness, filmmaker Margaret Byrne opens up about her own difficulties while getting to know Dimitar, Daniel, and Angela. Three people who attempt to navigate their way through the Cook County mental health court, and share their stories. Any Given Day is a film that aims to raise awareness, and show the world a critical view of the true lack of support regarding mental health. This film aims to provide a space in which conversation is encouraged, and show the importance of shared experiences, shared stories. 

Margaret crosses paths with Dimitar, Daniel, and Angela, after observing a diversion program at Cook County’s mental health court. This blossomed into an unlikely friendship, and led to Margaret’s own realization regarding the importance of vulnerability. Encouraged by the persistent bravery and honesty shown by the film's participants, she becomes a part of the film herself. Contributing to the cause while also confronting her own experiences with mental illness. Any Given Day serves as a beautiful reminder of the importance of community, and of conversation. 

Margaret Films with Angela near her apartment on Chicago’s West Side. photo by Anjali Pinto

July is BIPOC mental health awareness month, or, Minority Mental Health Month (MMM). A time intended to acknowledge the role of oppression and its impact on BIPOC individuals mental health. Mental Health America has named MMM 2023’s theme to be Culture, Community, and Connection. 

Any Given Day highlights the importance of community. The remarkable relationships formed throughout the course of filming show the necessity of vulnerability. Of true connection. Margaret Byrne’s remarkable relationships with Dimitar, Daniel, and Angela, grow stronger as time goes on. Despite the shared difficulties faced, there is an unrelenting sense of community that transcends the screen. Any Given Day aims to share that same sense. To cultivate conversations about the importance of support from not only each other, but from the system itself. 

This July 20th, Any Given Day will have its encore broadcast at 8/7c on America Reframed on World Channel. Check local listings for more information on how to watch here. Any Given Day will also be available to stream online for 30 days at worldchannel.org, amdoc.org, and on all PBS platforms including PBS.org and the PBS Video app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices.

Any Given Day available to purchase and rent on Apple TV & iTunes

Screenshot of Any Given Day on the appleTV/itunes interface. A photo of Dimitar as the background

You’ll find it easy to see yourself and your loved ones reflected in Any Given Day. 

And it’s easier than ever to watch Any Given Day cause it’s now available to rent and purchase on AppleTV & iTunes. While investigating the treatment of detainees with mental illness in Chicago jails, filmmaker, Margaret Byrne, finds herself on an unexpectedly, personal multi-year journey when she meets Angela, Daniel, and Dimitar, three defendants in the Cook County mental Health Court’s probation program.

Margaret developed genuine friendships with the film’s participants and so they let her in to capture their isolating and painful moments alongside joyful times, too. And Margaret reciprocated. Turning the camera on herself underscores a familiar feeling in the movie that “in some other version of my life, that could have been me”.

Margaret films Angela at a bus stop in Chicago

Sensitive filmmaking aside, everyone knows someone who has experienced what Dimitar, Angela, Daniel and their families have gone through. One in five Americans has experienced mental illness, and one in fifteen Americans has experienced both a mental illness and a substance use disorder (for more information about these stats and how to take action, check out AGD’s Impact campaign page HERE). 

And as communities nationwide re-evaluate the role of law enforcement, particularly with respect to crimes of survival and mental health, Any Given Day shows us what life is like navigating the justice system with mental illness.

Big thanks to Cinemaguild for making the Apple TV / iTunes release possible.

Some recent articles about Mental Health Policy

Broadcast Premiere of ANY GIVEN DAY on WORLD Channel’s America ReFramed During BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month

In honor of BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month, WORLD Channel’s America ReFramed will present the award-winning Any Given Day on July 7th at 8/7c. 

In 2015, in the midst of widespread defunding of community mental health care programs across the country, in Chicago, the Cook County Jail has become a default treatment center for people living with mental illness. 

While investigating the treatment of detainees, filmmaker Margaret Byrne meets Angela, Dimitar and Daniel, participants in a mental health court probation program. Their friendship gives each of them the courage to be seen at their most vulnerable. In turn, Margaret begins to confront one of the most difficult periods of her life, culminating in a hospitalization for depression. 

What begins as a heartfelt desire to accurately portray the lives of Angela, Dimitar and Daniel, forces Margaret to reckon with her own history of mental illness. Margaret’s own hospitalization that occurs during the making of the film, becomes an inspiration to weave her own story into the film. Byrne’s intimate observations of the three, captures the hard-fought triumphs and struggles of living at the intersection of mental illness, poverty, and addiction.

Filmed over five years, their stories expose a system designed for punishment, yet used as a replacement for mental health care. The absence of support takes a toll on family members and friends whom Angela, Dimitar and Daniel provide for and depend on. The resulting stigma and isolation keep them caught in cycles of victory and defeat.

Any Given Day provides deeply personal insight into the necessity of caring relationships, especially when life is at its most difficult. 

America ReFramed broadcasts on WORLD Channel. Check local listings for more information on how to watch here. 

Any Given Day will also stream online upon premiere at worldchannel.org, amdoc.org, and on all PBS platforms including PBS.org and the PBS Video app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices.

Any Given Day Wins Chicago Award at 57th Chicago International Film Festival

We’re excited to share that Any Given Day is the winner of the Chicago Award, an honor presented to an outstanding film in the festival’s City & State program. 

Selected by jurors Andre Muir, Jenny Shi, and Jon Siskel, the jury shared the following commendation:

Margaret Byrne’s Any Given Day is a powerful and genuine portrait of what life is like while living with mental illness. Through an intimate and compassionate lens, the film observes the joy and struggles of three subjects as they participate in the Cook County mental health court probation program, and their friendships with the filmmaker as she confronts her own history of mental illness. Crafted with love, respect, bravery, and deep empathy, the film not only de-stigmatizes mental illness but also contemplates a better way to support those in need.

If you missed last week’s festival and you live in Illinois or Missouri, you can screen the film during the St. Louis International Film Festival. Click here for tickets and details. 



Any Given Day U.S. Premiere at 57th Chicago International Film Festival

Beti Films is pleased to announce that Any Given Day will have its U.S. Premiere at the 57th Chicago International Film Festival, to be held in Chicago, IL in October. The hybrid festival will run from October 13 through October 24 with two in theater screenings on October 20th and October 23rd. 

In addition to its U.S. Premiere, Any Given Day is also part of the International Documentary Competition and the Festival’s City and State Program. 

Filmed over five years, Any Given Day follows a filmmaker with mental illness as she follows three defendants through a specialized mental health probation program. While sharing their rarely seen struggles, she faces her own challenges, making clear just how precarious the ties between people with mental illness, their families and society can be.

For more information about screenings and tickets, please visit the official festival website here.

Stay up to date on Any Given Day screenings and news at the film’s official website here. 


ANY GIVEN DAY EARNS HONORABLE MENTION AND IS NAMED BEST OF FEST AT HOT DOCS

We are thrilled to announce that Any Given Day received an Honorable Mention for Emerging Filmmaker Award and was named as one of Hot Docs Best of Fest by the Toronto Film Critics Association.

RECENT REVIEWS:

"This is one of the most moving testaments to human resilience that I’ve ever seen. The very existence of the film is an act of bravery." - Barbara Goslawski, Frameline


"This film is an example of the magic that happens when the camera keeps rolling, offering an unfiltered view of reality, and sticking with a subject for the long haul. It’s a deeply empathetic documentary." - Pat Mullen, POV Magazine

“A testament to the trust that nonfiction filmmakers develop with their subjects. There’s barely a dividing line separating this director from her subjects. They are in this project together.” - Kent Turner, Film Forward

"Raw, honest, unsettling and empathic" - Vickie Reichardt, Movie Pie

"It’s the first-person perspective from someone living with mental illness that makes Any Given Day feel unique in the sea of documentaries made on the subject, and it offers an engaging glimpse into the experience of living with mental illness and addiction" - John Corrado, One Movie, Our Views

"Any Given Day is affirmation that these journeys are being taken – every single day. It is this exact mirror where comprehension and healing begins.” - Taylor Beaumont, For Reel Movies

ANY GIVEN DAY TO WORLD PREMIERE AT HOT DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

ANY GIVEN DAY TO WORLD PREMIERE AT HOT DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

Any Given Day, the latest feature film from Beti Films, will hold its world premiere at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto, Canada on April 29, 2021. The film will also compete in the Oscar-qualifying International Spectrum Competition, a curated competition of world and international premieres from around the globe.

Beti Films Seeking Local Artist to Design Billboard for FREE MATTHEW Campaign

Beti Films is commissioning a billboard design for the FREE MATTHEW campaign. Matthew Echevarria was wrongfully convicted at the age of 17 and has been fighting for his freedom for over 20 years. The goal of the FREE MATTHEW billboard design project is to build awareness and elevate Matthew’s case by creating compelling public art displays that command the attention of those who pass by and urge them to take action. 

To learn more about Matthew and his case, visit http://www.freematthew1999.com.

The billboard is located at the corner of Harlem and Fullerton Avenues in Elmwood Park, IL. The selected artist will receive a stipend of $500 for their design. 

Applications are due November 6, 2020. You can view the full application HERE.

Any Given Day Receives ITVS Open Call Funding

any-given-day-sigimage1.jpg

Any Given Day, an upcoming feature documentary from Beti Films, has recently been awarded Open Call funding from the Independent Television Service (ITVS). The ITVS Open Call provides independent producers with funding to complete a standalone broadcast length documentary to air on public television.

You can read the official announcement for the 2019 ITVS Open Call here. 


Raising Bertie Wins Down East Flick Fest Community Impact Award

Raising Bertie, the debut feature film from award-winning director Margaret Byrne, won the Down East Flick Festival Community Impact Film Series Award. This award is given to films that highlight the unique characteristics of Eastern North Carolina’s culture and sense of place, provide critical insights into the communities of Eastern North Carolina and demonstrate an understanding of the socio-economic and political challenges of the people and the region. 


You can read more about the film’s overall reach in our Raising Bertie Impact Report here.

Beti Films at The Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

Throughout the months of May and June, Beti Films has been one of the crews filming the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival during their 40 Days of Moral Action. Witnessing the actions in Indianapolis, Lansing, and Detroit, we've been deeply moved by the people of this campaign, who are making history as the largest mass nonviolent moral direct action in American history.

Please read more about the campaign here and stayed tuned for future updates about where to see the film.

Sound Recordist Shuling Yong, Director of Photography Margaret Byrne, and Producer Rory McFadden on location with the Michigan Poor People's Campaign in Detroit on June 18th, 2018.

Any Given Day at The Doc Talk Show

34e8c3b111.jpg

Thursday, April 26th at 7 PM, Margaret Byrne will join a lineup of remarkable filmmakers at The Doc Talk Show. Byrne will show a trailer for Any Given Day, the new Beti Films feature currently in production, and talk with host Jeff Spitz about the film. This free event is the first opportunity to catch a glimpse of this powerful exploration of the mental health crisis in Chicago. Space is limited, reserve your seat in advance.

Raising Bertie Highlighted in Paste Magazine's Best Documentaries of 2017

BUD_1450-1024x683.jpg

"The best documentaries of 2017 will only become more vital as we leave this year behind, gaining perspective the further we drag ourselves from the past 12 months. It’s no small gesture to call a documentary film “essential,” but in a year in which so many of our lives have needed something essential, something urgent, to push us forward, ranking these films feels futile..."

Paste Magazine, The 15 Best Documentaries of 2017

Raising Bertie Screening at Duke University on October 20th

RB_2017_10_20_Duke screening.jpg
 

Raising Bertie will screen at the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy on Friday, October 20 at 5:30PM.

Director Margaret Byrne, producer Ian Robertson Kibbe, Vivian Saunders (CEO and founder of The Hive) and film subject Davonte 'Dada' Harrell will be present for a post-screening discussion moderated by Professor Jay Pearson.

The screening is co-sponsored by the Sanford School's Committee on Diversity and Inclusion; the Center for Documentary Studies; the Center on Law, Race, and Politics; the Department of African and African American Studies; and the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University.

The event is free but registration is required.

Location:
Sanford School of Public Policy Room 04
201 Science Drive Durham NC

Raising Bertie trailer reviewed in Slash Film

"It’s compelling viewing when you cut through the chaff of our collective experience. When you dial into a person’s essence you are seeing them the way they deserve to be seen and this trailer is more dramatic than I would give some other fictional films credit for being." - Christopher Stipp

http://www.slashfilm.com/this-week-in-trailers-my-life-without-air-hounds-of-love-raising-bertie-score-a-film-music-documentary-machines/