LET ME HAVE MY SON Shines A Light on Mental Illness
New Film Shares Journey of a Father Who is Navigating his Relationship with a Son Who Has Spent His Adulthood in Psychiatric Hospitals
St. Paul, MN – Bringing awareness to issues surrounding mental illness, giving support to families, and dispelling the stigma surrounding the disease, LET ME HAVE MY SON is now available as a Virtual Cinema Event. The award-winning film was created by Writer/Director Cristóbal Krusen, Messenger Films, and is distributed through Ocean Avenue Entertainment.
Trailer and Tickets are available at tickets.letmehavemyson.com.
LET ME HAVE MY SON is the heartwarming, hope-filled story of a father desperately seeking to be reunited with the dear son he has lost to mental illness.
View a short video sharing Krusen’s heart and the story behind the project.
In the film, Ben Whitmore Sr. (Krusen) travels to Middlemouth Security Hospital after being informed that, after years of treatment, his son, Benny (Nathan Barlow) has recovered from schizophrenia. Instead of bringing Benny home, however, Ben Sr. discovers that he has disappeared, triggering the father’s increasingly desperate search for answers.
In an epilogue to the film, viewers get to experience a brief, emotional video of Cristóbal and his real-life son, Daniel, sharing family time together.
The release of the film could not be timelier, as the National Institute of Mental Health reports that currently 1 out of 5 of our nation’s children now suffer from debilitating mental disorders. The word ‘schizophrenia’ itself means “a splitting of the mind”** , and according to the World Health Organization, over 21 million people worldwide struggle specifically with schizophrenia.
Cristóbal shares, “My son was, and still is, the apple of my eye. While his disease has taken him away from us in many ways, we can still see the goodness of the Lord at work. I hope the book, and now the film, can give hope and encouragement to those facing issues of mental illness. I believe that love completes what hope begins, and God’s gift of faith will carry us through life’s often arduous journey.”
LET ME HAVE MY SON was created by Messenger Films and distributed through Ocean Avenue Entertainment.
About Cristóbal Krusen:
Cristóbal Krusen was born and raised in Tampa, Florida, the third of four children. Early in life, he showed a keen interest in literature, reading many of the classics while still in grade school and cherishing the ambition that one day he would become a writer. He entered Harvard University in 1971, majoring in English literature, intent on making his mark as a poet and novelist. A growing interest in photography and filmmaking, however, led him to transfer to New York University where he changed majors and graduated with a BFA in Film and Television in 1976. He later attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California where he received his MFA in Film in 1989.
Cristóbal founded Messenger Films in 1988 and has worked as a writer/director of film and television ever since, helming productions in more than twenty countries. He is best known for Final Solution, More Than Dreams, Undaunted, Sabina K. and most recently, Let Me Have My Son . Over the last several years, Cristóbal has also begun fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming a writer. He is the author of Undaunted, They Were Christians, and Let Me Have My Son.
Working in multiple languages as a filmmaker, Cristóbal is known for a poetic visual style and the ability to draw intimate performances from actors. Above all, he is a “story-teller” who delights to engage his audience while addressing the deepest needs of the human heart.