Category: Contributors

Espen is passionate for art and creative media. Five years of film studies, including bachelor from INN University – Lillehammer. Interested in having sensitive or taboo topics be more open for communication.

A 24 years old cinematographer based in Larvik, Norway. Studied TV and Documentary Production at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, with a particular interest in visual storytelling and how a person’s personality can shape the visual language of a documentary. Responsible for the cinematography of “The Art of Living”.

Eivind M. Nordengen (1991) is the festival director of The Amandus Film Festival and Amandus Blikkfang in Lillehammer. He has worked in film communication for almost 15 years, first as head of the Lillehammer Film Club and later with the Norwegian Student Film Festival, before joining Amandus. He holds a master’s degree in Film and…

Beatrice Birch, executive director, and founder of Inner Fire, is a Hauschka Artistic Therapist and has worked in integrative clinics, rehabilitation centers and prisons in England, Holland and the USA. Her approach calls upon the whole human being: body, soul and spirit. Beatrice’s belief in the creative human spirit and the choice to be proactive…

Marcello Macario is a psychiatrist who has worked in Community Mental Health Centers of the Italian NHS from 1987 to 2025. He was one of the founders of the Italian Hearing Voices Network (www.intervoiceitalia.it) and is very much involved in introducing the Open Dialogue approach in the public services, especially for young people. He’s also…

Ragnfrid Kogstad is a sociologist and professor in mental health care at the Inland University, Norway, with a doctoral degree from the faculty of clinical medicine. Her main research areas include environmentally oriented healthcare, nature-based services, mental health and human rights. In cooperation with the user organization Mental Health Norway, she established the national competence…

Kjellaug is a singer-songwriter with a degree in odontology.   Her songs primarily come to her when life needs some processing and after going through rough patches.   For twenty years, Kjellaug has worked as a dentist and clinic owner while raising two children. At times, these demands pushed her to exhaustion and ultimately led her to…

Olga Runciman is the first and only psychologist in Denmark with a private practice specializing in extreme states. She is a teacher, international speaker, writer, activist, and photographer. She co-founded the Danish Hearing Voices Network and the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal. In addition, she serves on the boards of various organizations, including Intervoice,…

Jimmy Ruben Sylow Westerheim is the founder of The Human Aspect Foundation, which is behind the Life Experience Library. He grew up in a small village in Hurum, where he felt alienated and ended up as a suicidal 13-year-old struggling to find hope. From a decisive turning point he found a new direction in life,…

Dainius Pūras is a professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and teaches at the Faculty of Medicine, Institute of International Relations and Political Science and Faculty of Philosophy of Vilnius University, Lithuania. He is also a visiting Professor at the University of Essex, United Kingdom, and a Distinguished Visitor with the O’Neill Institute for National…