When he was young, Nitsan’s father was known as a brilliant and adventurous guy. Saul was someone who could talk to anyone about anything, with a bright future ahead of him. But then came the hospitalizations. The disappearances. The debilitating episodes of depression. Growing up, both Nitsan and her sister had front-row seats to their father’s struggle with his bipolar disorder, and to the disease tearing their family apart.

Years later, Nitsan, a budding filmmaker, sets out to tell her father’s story. She finds herself chasing the past—interviewing those who knew him, digging through records, and uncovering conflicting narratives of the same events. What emerges is a complex portrait of a man shaped by trauma, a family torn between love and preservation, and the lifelong intricacies of growing up in the shadow of mental illness.

Told with unflinching honesty, Something’s Up with Dad is a gripping memoir about the impossible reality of bipolar disorder and the toll it takes on the people who long to help their loved ones through it.

 

Nitsan Tal is a veterinarian, photographer, and film director. She grew up in Israel on a kibbutz (a large commune) and later moved to the US. While practicing as a veterinarian in New York, she began taking photography classes—a hobby she had enjoyed since her teenage years. One thing led to another, and in 2013, she directed her first documentary film. She has directed three more documentaries since.

Something’s Up with Dad is her first book.