Presents
Boarding on Insanity
Are our Leaders Traumatised?
A Ben Cole film
Presented by Piers Cross
Produced by Simon Hinkly
Co-Producer Shira MacLeod
Featuring:
Gabor Maté
Joy Schaverien
Suzanne Zeedyk
Nick Duffell
Alex Renton
Martin Lloyd-Elliott
"Boarding On Insanity is a smart, courageous look into the dark heart of what is usually considered "privilege"
...I highly recommend this film."
~ Richard Grannon, Best Selling Author
Film Premiere, The Rio Cinema, London, 1st March 2025
Many of our global leaders have been to boarding school.
From Boris Johnson to Mark Zuckerberg, Rupert Murdoch to Richard Branson.
The world is going through a crisis: war, environmental collapse and poverty. Could the world’s challenges be because some of the world’s political and business leaders are psychologically traumatised by boarding school?
Boarding on Insanity explores the trauma that resides in children who attend boarding school. How does that trauma affect the behaviour and mental health of these children who later choose to become leaders?
The film visits a retreat dedicated to looking at the wounds of boarding school, and explores the impact of separating children from their families.
We meet with Dr Gabor Mate, Nick Duffell and other experts in the field of boarding school syndrome to explore this trauma. We ask how we heal from this and how the general public can be encouraged to reclaim their power.
Ben Cole: Director, Co-Producer and Editor
Ben has a wealth of experience across the world of filmmaking, with 35 years as a film maker. Ben is well known for his work on the Grammy nominated 1 Giant Leap projects that revolutionised the documentary format, including Time of the Sixth Sun watched by over a million online. His work has won awards at BIFA, LAIFA, London film Festival and Acapulco Film festival, with a recent nomination for Best British Drama Feature at Edinburgh Film Festival. His work was recently seen on the BBC for the documentary Wham! Last Christmas Unwrapped.
Shira MacLeod
Co-Producer
Shira is an industry professional with over 20 years’ experience in programming repertory cinema and producing events and festivals at two landmark London cinemas; Riverside Studios and Regent Street Cinema. She is noted for building documentary audiences through her work with ‘Dochouse’.
Piers Cross
Writer and Producer
Piers is an author, podcast host and coach. The original concept for Boarding On Insanity was conceived by Piers after twenty years of research and one to one work both on himself and with others around the issues of boarding school. He has recorded over 600 episodes of his podcast and is the author of How To Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times.
Simon Hinkly
Producer
Simon Hinkly has been involved in the film industry for many years working as a First Assistant Director on feature films and TV series such as The Long Good Friday and My Beautiful Laundrette. Later as a producer of short films. He has worked as a producer, director and assistant director on over 50 feature films, shorts and documentaries. Simon brings a great passion for telling stories that have a big impact on the world.
As a producer Simon was twice winner of the Kodak Film Awards for Best Short Films: Letters of Service (2004) and A Neutral Corner (2006).