“Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia, Volume 1: Psychotic Disorders” is the first half in a series of 6 ethnographic films on severe mental illness in Indonesia. The series is based on material drawn from 12 years of person-centered research by director and anthropologist Robert Lemelson. Volume 1 follows 3 individuals of different ages and backgrounds with psychotic disorders, and explores the relationship between culture, mental illness, and first-person experience. “Shadows and Illuminations” explores how non-normative mental events and behavior, including auditory and visual hallucinations, can be understood or interpreted in multiple ways outside the confines of western psychiatric diagnostics. “Memory of My Face” illustrates how the residues of colonialism and the pervasive influence of globalization affect the subjective experience of mental illness. “Ritual Burdens” questions how communal spiritual obligations may be folded into personal schemas of stress to trigger episodes of mental illness.