
The jet-setting mogul who wooed Corrie's Tina O'Brien: Interior design boss Adam Fadlé is on track to be a multi-millionaire after transforming homes for Ronaldo and Paul Pogba (and he's the spitting image of her ex!)
It was reported on Tuesday that the Coronation Street star has found love again with her new partner after splitting from her husband Adam Crofts earlier this year.
And MailOnline can now reveal that Tina's partner is Adam, 38, is the founder of interor design firm Panoramic Properties, which boasts big names including Paul Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo as clients.
Adam started his company back in 2010 from a spare bedroom in his parents home, and is now on track to become a millionaire, sharing in a previous interview that he fell in love with interior design at university.
The practice specialises in luxury high-end residential interior design, and since its inception has amassed an array of celebrity clients.
Sources have claimed that Tina and Adam have enjoyed a string of dates together after meeting through friends in Cheshire.
Last month, it was reported that Tina had split from her husband Adam after seven years of marriage, after she was spotted without her wedding ring.
Since starting his interior design firm, Adam has shared glimpses of his jet-setting lifestyle on social media, enjoying luxurious trips to Dubai, Bali and Sri Lanka.
He previously revealed that one of his first big clients was Manchester City star Emmanuel Adebayor, working on several homes for him in London and Africa.
This then led to him working with other Manchester-based players, such as Pogba and Yaya Touré.
Adam's work on Pogba's former property showed lavish additions including a vast walk-in wardrobe, colourful graffiti in the bathroom and a football practice space decorated with fractured lighting panels.
An image Pogba himself posted in 2021, showed him playing on table football in his games room, which was complete with a personalised pool table.
Behind him, there is a wall of memorabilia from his career, with his indoor football pitch also boasted his initials as part of the quirky decore.
Speaking to Manchester Evening News in 2022, Adam also revealed that he worked with Ronaldo to design properties for him during his time at United, after one of his clients rented out a home to the Portuguese star.
He said of working with the footballing legend: 'Obviously Ronaldo's huge and he's got the most followers on Instagram in the world so you can't really get much bigger than him.
'We now deal with Ronaldo directly and make sure that he's looked after and everything is catered for him in his Manchester property.
'We also work with a lot of captains of industries which extends to a couple of billionaires. We've got some fantastic clients and we get to do some amazing, exciting projects all over the world where we can push the boat out in terms of our bespoke designs.'
Panoramic Properties also won an award for the 'world's most luxurious home cinema' at The International Property Awards, and featured in The World's Leading Design Names in 2023.
Adam also previously shared hopes to expand his business by opening new offices in Dubai and London.
He told The Design Society: 'These include a range of high-end private residence refurbishments, a new build apartment block consisting solely of multi-million pound luxury apartments, several properties overseas, as well as ongoing work with our wonderful clients whom have been with us from the beginning.'
He certainly seems to make the most of his time in the UAE, with social media snaps showing him enjoying luxurious yacht trips, private plane rides, and nights out at the boxing with loved ones.
Adam's interior design success has only added to his bank balance, with documents filed to Companies House revealing his business boasts over £554,000 in assets.
On Tuesday, it was reported that Tina has found love with her new partner Adam, and he bears a striking resemblance to her estranged husband.
A source told The Sun: 'Tina fell out of love with one Adam and then fell in love with another.
'She's been on a few dates with him and they've been very open with their relationship. They were out last week snogging like teenagers and they've been seen walking her dog by locals.
'Tina looked totally mad for Adam and they couldn't keep their hands off each other.'
In recent days, Tina was reportedly partying and letting her hair down as a single woman in the wake of her split from Crofts.
It was revealed last month that the Corrie star had split from her husband after weeks of speculation.
The estranged couple, who share ten-year-old son Beau, are said to be 'on good terms' for the sake of their son but their differing lifestyles reportedly drove them apart.
Tina is making the most of being a single woman and despite being upset that things didn't work with Crofts, she is getting out and about with friends.
A source told The Sun: 'Last weekend she really let her hair down at Colson Smith's party and made sure she looked incredible.
'Tina looks amazing and has no shortage of male attention - her recent bikini snaps certainly caught a few eyes though.'
Tina met Crofts in a Manchester coffee shop in 2011 and the couple tied the knot in a surprise NYE ceremony in 2018.
The star - who plays Sarah Platt in the ITV show - first sparked split rumours when she shared a photograph of herself at co-star Colson Smith's leaving party in Manchester.
Taking to Instagram, Tina cut a glamorous figure in a red mini dress and posed with a bare ring finger on display, just weeks after jetting off on holiday without Crofts.
She further fuelled the speculation as she was seen with a notably bare finger while out for a cup of tea in Cheshire.
Friends then revealed the split as they said: 'Tina and Adam have ended their relationship and are spending some time apart.
'They moved house at Christmas and have decided to live separately for the time being.
The insider told The Sun: 'Adam and Tina lead very different lives - he is really into his fitness, while she really enjoys going out with her mates and having a dance, which just isn't for him.
'It wasn't an issue at first because they were head over heels, but as the kids have started to grow up it's become more noticeable. Adam likes a quiet life and unfortunately that just isn't Tina.'
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Daily Mail
4 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Tess Daly, 56, says she still fits the same denims she wore in her 20s despite not dieting - so, which slim celebs are with her in the good jeans club?
They say age is just a number, but for a few select celebrities, it feels like that number hasn't changed in years. And stars including Tess Daly and Gaby Roslin have revealed they still fit into the same size jeans they wore in their 20s. This week, Tess explained: 'I'm wearing the same size jeans I was wearing in my 20s, but that's not from dieting - it's from maintaining. 'I've never dieted, and as a mother of daughters, I've always been very careful not to demonise sugar and not count calories, and I refuse to embrace any negative connotation around food because I think moderation is key.' Meanwhile, supermodel Kate Moss, TV personality Amanda Holden, and Holly Willoughby have all been spotted recently rocking similar denim compared to when they were younger. They have all been open about their fitness routines and how they have kept their figure and youthful looks throughout the years. Tess Daly Tess recently revealed she still fits into the same size jeans she wore in her 20s - but insisted she's never been one to diet. The TV presenter, 56, said she exercises daily to maintain her core strength and said she believes she's cracked the formula to both feeling and looking great. She said: 'I will do planks in my living room every day because core strength is really important to me at my age now, plus I'm also very tall and do a lot of running around in heels, so I need to support my back.' She added that although she's now in her 50s, she feels as energetic as she did in her 20s. The former model has previously given fans an insight into the varied ways she achieves her impeccable figure, from running on the treadmill while she watches her favourite Netflix shows and morning skipping circuits to trampolining in her back garden. Tess has also credited daily yoga for both keeping her physically fit and maintaining her mental wellbeing, and shared her love for swimming. the former model has previously given fans an insight into the varied ways she achieves her impeccable figure, from running on the treadmill while she watches her favourite Netflix shows and morning skipping circuits to trampolining in her back garden. Tess has also credited daily yoga for both keeping her physically fit and maintaining her mental wellbeing, and shared her love for swimming. Amanda Holden Known for her incredible figure and style, Amanda has always been pictured wearing skinny jeans. And despite the Britain's Got Talent judge, 54, having a slim figure since she was young, Amanda previously revealed she's 'not a slave' to her fitness regime. She admitted she 'loves food too much' and ensures she sticks to her routine for her 'own discipline and dignity.' Speaking to The Times about how a 'school-gate mum' achieves and maintains her good looks, the TV personality shared the details. Amanda discussed her extensive fitness regime, revealing that she runs three to four miles a week in addition to Kundalini yoga practice and a 'Viking workout regime.' Despite her somewhat intense sounding exercise plan, she reiterates that she doesn't do it because she 'feels like she has too,' and explained the importance of balance. 'I am not a slave to any beauty or fitness regime because I love food too much. I eat cheese and butter and I love a drink. 'But the deal I struck with myself was I have to run for my rosé wine in the summer and run for my red wine in winter. And I don't do it because I feel I have to; I do it for my own discipline and dignity,' she told the publication. Amanda joked that it's 'all down hill from your 20s' but added that, like Cher, you can 'turn back time' with proper nutrition and exercise. 'I'm from a generation of women who won't [fade into the background] - we'll flaunt our bits for as long as we can. I am certainly going to - even when they're drooping down to the floor, I'll scoop them up again,' she laughed. Myleene Klass She soared to fame in the Noughties as a fresh-faced member of hit band Hear'Say and was known for showing off her figure in low-rise skinny jeans. And two decades on, Myleene Klass has reinvented herself as a fashion-forward guru, modelling an array of edgy and figure-flashing looks. Previously opening up about how she picks her outfits, the Pure and Simple hitmaker, 47, shared: 'Wear what you feel good in. 'Do not feel the pressure of what somebody may tell you you look great in, if it doesn't necessary suit you or you don't feel comfortable in it. 'Make sure that you've got that confidence in your outfit, because it just emanates from you. And put on that smile – you'll feel good, you'll look good.' Kate Moss Back in the early noughties, skinny jeans and black ballet pumps were one of Kate Moss's signature looks, and 20 years on, she still loves the look. She earned something of a party girl reputation in her youth, and was often seen hitting the club scene of London. But Kate, 51, has attempted to put her wild ways behind her - having overhauled her lifestyle to stay fit and healthy as she gets older. Speaking to the Guardian, the Croydon-born model revealed in 2018 she lost an inch off her waist in just 10 days, after taking on a clean diet and finally joining a gym. The supermodel revealed to the paper that she never used to be conscious of what she ate in her youth, but is amazed by how her detox has affected both her health and skin. Holly Willoughby pictured left in 2006 aged 25 She confessed: 'I've really noticed an improvement since I've been more 'on it' with food – like eating salads and all that stuff - I never used to really eat salads. And now I'm like, juicing!' Having always despised exercise, the beauty also finally decided to join a gym, and admitted she's 'got quite into it', against all odds. 'I've never been a gym bunny or anything like that,' she said. 'I was always, like, 'UGH', it made me feel ill, but now I've started working out, I'm really quite into it.' Revealing she even lost weight around her middle in less than two weeks, she added: 'I worked out for an hour every consecutive day for a couple of weeks and it was enough that I really started to see the benefits, which I'd never really done before.' Gaby Roslin 'Shopping in your wardrobe': Showing off her long, lean legs in the stylish number, Gaby revealed in the caption that the old pair of bottoms brought back 'vivid memories' Gaby Roslin, 61, revealed that she still owns and wears the same pair of jeans that she purchased over fifteen years ago. The revelation drove her Instagram fans wild as they praised her 'amazing figure' and ability to fit into the old pair of grey exposed zipper jeans. Gaby showed off her long, lean legs in the stylish number, which she teamed with a matching grey top. The star captioned the snap: 'Yes! Ultimate happy find #shoppinginyourwardrobe and once again the @jbrandjeans houlihans have an outing. Nothing quite as 'just right' as the originals. 'I think I bought these over 15 years ago and I remember being obsessed... We were weren't we @janebrutonuk It's funny how some items in your wardrobe bring back such very vivid memories. 'That's of course one of the joys of #shoppinginyourwardrobe The other reasons are it's good for your purse and the planet! Happy day everyone,' she concluded.


The Guardian
4 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The best wedding gifts in the UK: 13 ideas that couples will actually want
'If you don't say what you want, your parents' friends will buy you things like papier-mache crisp bowls,' warned my friend – and celebrant – when my partner and I got engaged. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. We're getting married in October. We're not actually doing presents – we're having a destination wedding and I need some way of assuaging that guilt – but she made a good point. What do you buy if there isn't a list, and you don't know the person very well, or if there is a list, but the only thing left is a bin? Cash feels crass – 'donations to the honeymoon' is a euphemism for cash – and homemade is hard to pull off unless you're particularly skilled. Yet there are ways to find the right present for the right couple, at the right price. Below is a non-exhaustive list of ideas from experts – newlyweds; divorcees who know over which wedding gifts they fought; and long-married couples – about what they cherish most, years on. Nothing is more subjective than what people choose to display in their homes. But if you're an artist yourself or have the money to commission something, a piece of art can make a wonderful gift. You could commission an illustrator to draw the place where the couple first met or got married, or perhaps frame a poem that's meaningful to them. One friend received a Sophia Langmead artwork of the punchline of an in-joke, which he describes as 'ridiculous, completely personal and absolutely precious'. Keep it relatively small-scale – a large, loud piece of art is somewhat presumptuous. Try a painting of a beloved walk or destination by Rose Owen; a personalised insult from Mr Bingo; an illustration of a favourite restaurant by Phoebe Rutherford or a pub by Matthew JK Grogan. Or visit They Made This, which showcases a good – and mostly affordable – range of artists and illustrators. Wedding venue illustration print From £7.99 at Etsy Dinner Together by Nia Beynon From £30 at They Made This I Want To Jump In David Hockney's Swimming Pool With You by Benjamin Thomas Taylor From £35 at They Made This For some couples, a practical, creative course can be a lot of fun. Try a blacksmith class at Oldfield Forge in Herefordshire (one friend used the sword they forged to cut their kids' christening cake); plastic upcycling classes in Brighton; or a lesson in the Japanese art of Kintsugi, using golden resin to repair broken crockery. If the couple have a country they love, consider a language lesson (or course, if your budget stretches that far). Several schools and teachers offer classes for couples, even if they're of mixed linguistic ability, including Italian tutors in Liverpool, a French teacher in Kent and lessons in Spanish over FaceTime and Zoom. Blacksmithing classes From £78 at Oldfield Forge£202.50 at Virgin Experience Days Plastic upcycling classes From £179 at Not On The High StreetFrom £179 at Indytute Kintsugi workshop £32 at Indytute£130 for a couple at Virgin Experience Days One of the chief merits of an experience – a cookery course, say – is that it gives the couple something to look forward to after the wedding. Try baking courses, pasta-making courses and wine tastings: London's Hedonism Wines is a particular favourite. At Waddesdon Manor near Aylesbury, couples can sample from the Rothschild family's portfolio of wines while learning about the history of wine production. At the Wild Wine School in Cornwall, Somerset and London, the emphasis is as much on nature as what's in your glass – perfect for eco-conscious couples who want to enjoy wine more mindfully. If money is no object, give them a cooking or gardening course at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire or Coombeshead Farm in Cornwall. Or Migrateful supports migrants and refugees on their journey to integration by enabling them to teach cookery classes, which run in London and Bristol. Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules teaches ferments, noodles and dumplings at her home in east London, and food writer and forager Liz Knight teaches couples how to find food in the forests and fields of Abergavenny, Hay-on-Wye, Ledbury and Malvern. Baking courses From £75 at E5 Bakehouse Italian cooking classes From £115 at Enrica Rocca Cookery SchoolFrom £49 at Virgin Experience Days Gardening classes From £95 at the Raymond Blanc Gardening SchoolFrom £30 at RHS Migrateful cooking classes From £35 at Migrateful If they love travelling, Lonely Planet and National Geographic have a great selection, covering everything from beaches to ski slopes, or try a vintage travel guide. As ever, thoughtfulness is key: do the newlyweds have a place they return to again and again? Consider what they can afford: can they actually get to any of the Grand Hotels of the World or – considering the cost of a wedding – are they better off with an offbeat guide to Britain? Lonely Planet Best Beaches: 100 of the World's Most Incredible Beaches £25.19 at the Guardian Bookshop£22.33 at Amazon 100 Slopes of a Lifetime by Gordy Megroz £30 at the Guardian Bookshop£30 at Waterstones South by William Sansom £19.99 at the Vintage Book Company Hand Luggage Only by Yaya Onalaja-Aliu and Lloyd Griffiths £22 at Waterstones£14.35 at Amazon For some years, my go-to has been a cookbook because it's so easy to tailor your selection to the couple. It could be one about their honeymoon destination (Tim Anderson's JapanEasy is great for those off to Japan); a cuisine they have always loved, such as Ciudad de México by Edson Diaz-Fuentes; or a cookbook from their favourite restaurant. Alternatively, the book could centre on a favourite ingredient: choose a single-ingredient cookbook such as Ed Smith's Good Eggs, Letitia Clark's For the Love of Lemons or Samuel Goldsmith's The Frozen Peas Cookbook. Hosts should have Skye McAlpine's A Table For Friends; couples who cook on date nights might like Bre Graham's Table for Two. Good Eggs by Ed Smith £19.80 at the Guardian Bookshop£15.33 at Amazon For the Love of Lemons by Letitia Clark £25.20 at the Guardian Bookshop£20.97 at Amazon The Frozen Peas Cookbook by Samuel Goldsmith £17.09 at the Guardian Bookshop£14.25 at Hive Table for Two by Bre Graham £22 at the Guardian Bookshop£17.97 at Amazon If they're after air fryers and toasters, they'll probably have a registry list. But there are some gifts for the home that they may not have thought of. If you are, or you know, a talented potter, consider a handmade salad bowl, vase or jug. Well-chosen candleholders, together with a set of classic candles, are hard not to love. Napkins are beautiful and infinitely customisable, either by theme or embroidered initials. I adore these on Etsy. A word to the wise, though; people are either into personalised items or they're not. There is no middle ground. And consider stationery: Meticulous Ink, based in Bath, has a beautiful range and offers calligraphy sets and classes. I've also repeat-gifted refillable notepads and writing sets from Aspinal. Ester & Erik tapered candle set £35 at Flowerbx Hay patterned candles set £14 at Heal's£17 at End Glass fish candle holders From £9.95 at Graham and Green Rattan candle holders £58 at Anthropologie Embroidered linen napkins From £27.46 at Etsy A5 refillable journal £90 at Aspinal of London You have two options: something luxurious they may not buy themselves (a Thermomix, pizza oven or ice-cream maker would probably be well received, though not by a couple who live in a one-bed flat), or something they'll use again and again, such as a classic Le Creuset, a Netherton Foundry pan or a very good-quality knife. Allday knives are excellent and come with a penny (for luck) and a plaster (should the penny not work). Le Creuset Volcanic cast-iron soup pot £129 at John Lewis Netherton Foundry iron frying pan £56.99 at SeasonFrom £77 at Farm Fetch Allday Maldon Everyday santoku knife £140 at Allday The gift of time is the best if money is tight – just make sure you follow through on the offer. A couple who already had young children when they wed were given babysitting vouchers by friends. Or you could give your services for the wedding itself: make the wedding cake, play the organ, help with wedding favours. Does the bride need 120 tiny bottles painstakingly filled with limoncello and labelled? Offer your services. Much as I love the idea of giving a whole trout, a kilo of clams or a wheel of parmesan – all genuine presents newlyweds I know have enthused about – there simply isn't space to store them in most people's fridge or freezer. More manageable are subscriptions for monthly deliveries of cheese, fish, chocolate or olive oil. Adopting a fruit tree from CrowdFarming means the couple will receive its produce throughout the harvest, supporting regenerative farming practices in the process. Or consider a gift voucher for online farmers' markets such as Wylde or Pesky, which you can personalise with handwritten recipes, adding a small, non-perishable product from the market so they have a flavour of what to expect. You could give a subscription offering food for the mind rather than body: an Everyman cinema pass for regular date nights; or a National Art Pass, which gives couples access to discounted exhibitions throughout the UK. Cheese subscription From £24 a month at Pong£47 a month at Neal's Yard Dairy Chocolate subscription From £15 a month at Harry Specters Seasonal fruit subscription From £21.90 a month at CrowdFarming Everyman cinema pass From £95 a year at Everyman National Art Pass From £20 for three months at Art Fund Wine can fall under the category of generic, but there are ways to make it more special: a bottle of wine from the year of a couple's marriage, or the year they met; a curated selection of wines, courtesy of Good Wine Good People, which asks newlyweds to fill in a 'personal somm' questionnaire; or a wine from a meaningful place. Try Humble Grape, which has a wine team that sources bespoke wine gifts from across the world. Curated wine selection £90 at Good Wine Good PeopleFrom £31.90 at Humble Grape Though I have been known to ask small restaurants or bars if I can pay in advance as a gift, it's far easier if a restaurant offers vouchers. Personal favourites include Noble Rot, Brat, Brunswick House, Sabor, Apricity and Wildflowers in London; The Fordwich Arms in Kent; Moor Hall in Lancashire; The Little Chartroom in Edinburgh; Brett in Glasgow; Ottolenghi (multiple locations); Winsome in Manchester; the Shed in Swansea; and Hambleton Hall in Rutland. For pub lovers, there are lovely pubs with rooms, offering dinner and a stay in the countryside or by the sea. I love The Three Horseshoes in Batcombe, Somerset, the Suffolk in Aldeburgh-on-Sea and the Peacock Inn in Chelsworth, Suffolk. I know I said cash is crass, but hear me out. Put into a pot, money works wonders. Some of the gifts that friends have clubbed together on over the years include paddleboards, fire pits, a cutlery set and even a contribution towards a dining table. Cutlery set (24 pieces) £89.99 at Season Solo Stove smokeless fire pit £264.99 at Solo Stove£284.99 at John Lewis Inflatable standup paddleboard £149.99 at Decathlon One of the most gorgeous gifts a friend of mine received was her wedding bouquet, which friends paid for and then got pressed. Elsewhere, friends filled a wooden box with memories from the wedding: a pressed flower from the table; Polaroid pictures taken on the day; and poems or readings recited at the wedding, written out by a calligrapher. Flower press Selection from £5.94 at Etsy£14.76 at Søstrene Grene Instax Mini camera £69.99 at John Lewis£74.99 at Argos Polaroid instant camera £79.99 at Argos£94.99 at John Lewis Ultimately, no amount of money thrown at a gift can make up for a lack of thought. That said, Debrett's is on hand to advise how much you should 'officially' spend. 'The average range is between £50 and £100,' says Liz Wyse, Debrett's etiquette adviser. 'If you are a close friend or a family member, you may well choose to spend more. If you have been invited to an evening reception only, you would be expected to spend less, in the region of £25-50. 'But of course, much will depend on your social circle, the expectations of your friends and family, and the kind of presents that have been given within your social group. Ultimately, you should never bankrupt yourself or get into debt because you are trying to keep up with a level of present giving that is very elevated and beyond your reach.' Did you receive a cherished gift on your wedding day? Or give a wedding gift that was particularly well received by a couple? Let us know by emailing thefilter@


The Guardian
4 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘In the world of psychiatry, all your certainties are shattered': has cinema's champion of kindness run out of patience?
Laurence is a woman in desperate need of an act of human kindness. A hug, a cuddle: that is all she needs to keep at bay the nightmarish visions that haunt her day and night, the grey-haired patient urges her psychiatrist, words pressed through a clenched jaw, eyes bulging in panic. Yet on her ward at the Esquirol hospital centre in Paris, such simple gestures are impossible to come by. 'When I asked for a hug,' Laurence laments, 'they gave me a jar of yoghurt.' This scene, from Nicolas Philibert's new documentary At Averroès & Rosa Parks, is as hard to watch as anything you are likely to see on a cinema screen this year. But it is especially remarkable coming from perhaps the world's pre-eminent maker of humanist documentaries. The Frenchman Philibert is one of modern cinema's great champions of kindness. Aged 74, he has built a career making award-winning observational portraits of places that excel at giving care within a hostile modern world: a southern French school for hearing-impaired people in 1992's In the Land of the Deaf; museums and the people who dedicate their lives to maintaining the objects inside them in Louvre City (1990) and Animals and More Animals (1995); a single-teacher infant school in the rural Auvergne region in Être et Avoir, his 2001 international breakthrough film. On the Adamant, his 2023 Golden Bear-winning doc about an occupational therapy centre moored on the river Seine, was Philibertism par excellence: a film about a place that heals because it lives up to the simple ideal of treating patients as people. Yet its follow-up – which explores where some of the Adamant's passengers go on their bad days – is a film about a place where healing never seems to take place. '[For] On the Adamant, I filmed a lot of workshops and group meetings,' Philibert says on a video call from Paris. 'In At Averroès & Rosa Parks, the atmosphere and architecture is more severe, the space is more constraining. When the patients are in the hospital, they are more vulnerable, they are more in pain, they are overwhelmed by anxieties. Life is a hell. Everyone is locked in their solitude.' The film about the floating daycare centre became a crowdpleaser because it managed to portray a potentially forlorn place as something more akin to an elite institution for outsider artists (its name, riffing on that of the English post-punk singer who has been open about his bipolar disorder, is no coincidence). But during the filming Philibert realised: 'If I didn't show that the patients circulate between the boat and less prestigious structures, I wouldn't be showing reality.' The result is what he calls a 'triptych' of three films shot over a 12-month period between April 2021 and 2022, screening for the first time in their entirety in the UK at London's Bertha DocHouse cinema next weekend. The third of the three films, The Typewriter and Other Headaches (Philibert says they can be watched in any order), is still infused with its director's typical humanism: following the Adamant's carers as they visit their patients at home to repair broken typewriters, printers and record players, it shows how broken machines and severed links to the outside world can be fixed. And if we do not see any repair work in At Averroès & Rosa Parks, it's not for the carers' lack of trying. Made up entirely of conversations between mental health patients and their psychiatrists, it shows the hospital's staff display extraordinary empathy in their handling of people with severe conditions. We hear them engage respectfully with Olivier, who is confused about family relations and tells his carers that other people's daughters are his, and that his grandfather is present at the hospital in the shape of other patients. We see them listen patiently to Noé, who speaks multiple languages, makes art, practises Buddhism, teaches philosophy, but also suffers from 'megalomania', a condition he believes was brought on by swallowing a handful of acid at a trance festival as a teenager. But there is always a lurking sense that these conversations are under strain. One patient, Pascal, tells his carer that great psychiatrists are like Kylian Mbappé, the French footballer known for his clinical finishing: 'They get to the point, they sense things.' But when he lists the names of psychiatrists he considers top of his league, he pointedly omits to mention the woman he is talking to, and then phases out of the conversation completely. Laurence's psychiatrist goes to extreme lengths to assuage her fear that the carers are out to harm her and steal her cigarettes, but she snaps back: 'I don't trust you, I stopped trusting you ages ago. You're dumb, you're dumb as shit.' He doesn't retaliate – there's a camera rolling, after all – but can't quite stop the hurt pride from showing on his face. 'I really wanted for this second film to be based almost entirely on speech and listening, because these are two things that almost becoming extinct in the psychiatric world,' says Philibert. 'Public hospitals in France and elsewhere are becoming abandoned by public power. It translates as a deep lack of means, a deep lack of attractiveness. A lot of nurses who work in psychiatry end up leaving because they can carry out their work with dignity less and less.' At the end of the film, we meet Laurence again. Her flowing locks have been trimmed short, and she has bloodied plasters on her fingers and festering burns on her face. In a moment of desperation, we learn, she set herself on fire. I wonder if that last scene comes close to violating one of the principles Philibert's previous films adhered to: for all his interest in people with mental troubles, he usually goes to some lengths to avoid showing them in their troubled state. Yet his depiction of Laurence could be seen to be using her pain for dramatic effect. Philibert is quick to reassert his ethical guidelines. 'My films rest on trust,' he says, adding: 'Even if a patient or a carer signs a written authorisation, it doesn't mean that you're immune or that legal pursuit isn't possible if you tarnish the image of a person.' He's speaking from experience: after Être et Avoir became a breakout hit, the teacher at the heart of the film (unsuccessfully) tried to sue Philibert for a share of the profits, claiming that the film's success rested entirely on his personality. In Laurence's case, Philibert insists that she gave her consent before and after the filming, because she perceived his request 'a proof of consideration'. ''You want to film me? Oh, you're interested in me. Me who is always sidelined, rejected, made invisible.'' Still, it's fascinating to watch a film-maker discover new emotional timbres in his 70s. When the screen cuts to black at the end, and a jazz-guitar version of Beethoven's Ode to Joy plays over the credits, it feels like we are encountering a very unlikely emotion for a Philibert film: bitterness. And perhaps he is also allowing his beliefs to shine through more than previously. In the film's opening scene, when staff and patients watch drone footage of the hospital, Noé comments: 'It's scary, it's like a prison.' Philibert is fond of quoting his fellow documentarian Frederick Wiseman's maxim: 'If you need to drive home a message, send an email but don't make a film,' but what is this if not a pointed message about the state of modern French psychiatry? 'You know, the world of psychiatry is the realm of the unexpected,' he says. 'When you enter, all your certainties are shattered. The madmen reset all your counters to zero. They push you to revise all your diagrams.' On the Adamant, The Typewriter and Other Headaches and At Averroès & Rosa Parks are showing at Berta DocHouse 26-27 July