Arts in Healing International Film Festival
June 13-15 2025
Portland, OR, USA & Virtual
About
The Arts In Healing Film Festival invites filmmakers from around the world to submit their works, to be viewed in person in Portland OR. The festival aims to highlight innovative work that has been documented in the therapeutic and healing arts from the United States and around the world. The festival will feature a broad spectrum of films that reflect various therapeutic art modalities in the helping profession. This involves multiple expressive media types that span across disciplines which includes and is not limited to: Art, Music, Dance, Psychodrama, Drama, Storytelling, Poetry, Play Therapy, Sand tray, Expressive Therapy etc. We welcome films that document collaboration across disciplines, organizations, and groups to generate public and interdisciplinary awareness and interconnectivity among the healing arts for advocacy and social transformation.
Submission window has closed.
Categories of Focus
About the Arts in Healing
These films will highlight educating the public about the use of art for healing. This is intended for a general audience. It responds to the question, “What are the arts in healing?”
Applying the Arts in Healing
These films will highlight the application of creative arts in therapeutic settings. This is intended for general and professional audiences. It responds to the question, “How are the arts used in healing?”
Location
McMenamins Kennedy School
Since its 1915 opening, this historic elementary school has been a beloved fixture of its Northeast Portland neighborhood. McMenamins renovated the once-abandoned scholastic gem and turned it into Portland's most unique hotel. Here you'll find 57 comfy guestrooms with private baths and telephones (some fashioned from former classrooms complete with original chalkboards and cloakrooms – others with an author's theme), a restaurant, multiple small bars, a movie theater, soaking pool, gift shop and a brewery (just wait until the principal hears about this!). Extensive original artwork and historical photographs cover the walls, ceilings, doorways and hallways.
For neighborhood residents, out-of-town guests and business travelers, Kennedy School is a memorable and comfortable place to gather. The hotel is located minutes from Portland International Airport as well as to shopping in downtown Portland.
Host & Join a Watch Party!
We are inviting communities worldwide to host simultaneous watch parties. These gatherings will allow participants to engage with the festival in real-time! Whether in living rooms, community centers, or virtual spaces, each watch party will contribute to a shared experience that highlights the transformative power of the arts in healing. We are looking for watch party hosts, please email us if you are interested in hosting a watch party! For more information, please email aihfilmfestival@gmail.com.
Founders and Lead Programmers
Mary Andrus
Mary Andrus, DAT, LCAT, LPC, ATCS, ATR-BC (she/her) is a able bodied, cis, white woman, a mother, artist, musician, introvert, art therapist, filmmaker and teacher. She specializes in treating people with trauma, works as an educator at Lewis and Clark training students to become art therapists, where she co-founded Art for Social Change, a group that uses meaningful art making, community building and activism to impact people in her community. She has a passion for learning, hiking, creativity and connecting with other humans.
Zachary D. Van Den Berg
Zachary D. Van Den Berg, MA, LPC, ATR-BC (they/he), a graduate of Adler University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, has published extensively on queer and trans intersections in art therapy. They are the founder and president of the 501c3 nonprofit Coalition for Queer Creative Arts Therapies, Inc., and practice queer world-making art therapy in Austin, TX.
Katie Myers
Katie Myers Ziemba (she/her) MM, MT-BC, NICU-MT, EMT-B is a music-therapist, EMT, mama, and military spouse. She has contributed to the music therapy field as an author, presenter, adjunct professor, clinician, and clinical supervisor. Katie loves to be challenged to grow and serve others, and is currently in the process of developing a consulting business that connects the unique strengths of military spouse therapists with needs in the community.
Jolie Guillebeau
Jolie Guillebeau ATR-BC, LPC, LCAT (she/her) is a board certified art therapist and licensed professional counselor with experience utilizing art therapy in a variety of mental health settings, including day treatment, community mental health, and therapeutic education programs. She graduated from Marylhurst University and has supervised Lewis and Clark Art Therapy interns for several years. She is committed to celebrating small wins, good books, self-compassion, creativity, and soy ice cream sandwiches.
Natalie Rae Carlton
Natalie Carlton, Ph.D., ATR-BC, LPCC (she/her) Justice, systems, feminism, and queer theories have been grounding orientations for Carlton’s therapy support, graduate teaching, and leadership. Carlton has authored scholarship regarding digital media use in art therapy and the therapeutic use of comics, zines, and graphic novels.