Things are busy at the Paris hospital where young psychiatrist Jamal and his colleagues work. The place is run down, the staff are exhausted, budgets are constantly being slashed. You know the story, but you’ve rarely seen it conveyed as engagingly as in ‘On the Edge’, which employs a handheld camera and meaningful, artistic interventions to observe the daily routine at the psychiatric ward. The deeply sympathetic Jamal is an everyday hero with an exemplary, humanistic disposition, for whom the most important prerequisites for mental health – and for a healthy society in general – are good relationships with other people. He puts his philosophy into practice by listening patiently, giving good advice and organising theatre exercises based on Molière. Realism and idealism, however, are in balance for the young doctor, at least as long as the institutional framework holds up.

Hôpital Beaujon, Clichy. Au mépris des impératifs de rendement et du manque de moyens qui rongent l’hôpital public, Jamal Abdel Kader, seul psychiatre de l’établissement, s’efforce de rendre à ses patients l’humanité qu’on leur refuse. Mais comment bien soigner dans une institution malade ?

Es fehlt an Geld, Betten, Personal und Zeit: Dr. Jamal Abdel-Kader ist der einzige Psychiater im Beaujon-Krankenhaus in der Nähe von Paris. Er ist ständig zwischen Notaufnahme und Intensivstation unterwegs und behandelt Menschen mit psychischen Störungen, aber auch Patienten, die mit einer chronischen Erkrankung ans Bett gefesselt sind. Trotz des enormen Leistungsdrucks und fehlender Mittel unternimmt er alles, um ihre Leiden zu lindern.