“The Weekends” is a series that unites nine strangers, over seven weekends, to share their stories in a support group setting.  Each individual is going through a very important and life-altering year, and throughout the preceding week they document their own lives to share in dialogue with their group.

These are nine very different people, often with a challenging path ahead: a young black hip hop artist; a transgender person; a Syrian fugitive; a young Parkinsons patient; and a grieving widower. Each month they get together to show and tell what has happened to them and as the series progresses they develop friendships and become part of each other’s lives.

The series makes use of innovative and original camera techniques, with each protagonist having a small digital camera at her/his disposal to document their day to day life, which makes for a very intimate and personal approach with enormous freedom and independence. This intimacy is also reflected in the way the weekend group sessions are shot. The moment when they all sit together, to look at each others’ films and interact, they are captured by eight computer controlled, high quality, unmanned cameras. There are no crew members on location, you only see the group, and this feeling of serenity and unity is palpable throughout these shared moments.

This is an engrossing and moving show about hardships, circumstances to be overcome and how change is inevitable. But it is also about listening, empathy, support and facing life’s challenges head on.