Destigmatising Mental Health (15+) + screentalk
doors: 6pm
Animated shorts are a powerful medium for addressing mental health issues, offering a unique and often visually compelling way to explore complex emotions and inner struggles. These films vividly depict experiences like anxiety, depression, trauma and personal growth, often capturing the nuance of these conditions in ways that words alone cannot. By destigmatising mental health struggles the films also serve as a valuable tool for raising awareness, fostering conversations and promoting understanding about emotional well- being. And apart from anything else - they will make you laugh and make you cry! Several of the filmmakers will be in attendance after the screening to talk about these astounding and heart-felt films. Panellists to be announced shortly.
Films:
Prosopagnosia - Sketchbooks, photographs and diaries are intricately unravelled to tell a unique and personalstory of living with face-blindness. -[UK 2021 Dir: Steven Fraser 10’15]
Isle of Chair - On a secluded island, a chair has fallen down. A poetic, sombre animation dedicated to
anyone experiencing troubled times. - [UK 2020 Dir: Ivyy Chen 6’00]
Miss Odd - In private, everything is pink; Silent DJ Jolene is getting ready for a date to meet Theo. Sheis rehearsing and being her joyful self. Suddenly, this happy tune gets disrupted by her neighbour Camile, who calls her “Miss Odd”. -[UK 2024 Dir: Robyn Wisker-Stilling 4’45]
The Struggles of Living with Tourette Syndrome - At least 1 in 100 children have Tourette Syndrome. Many of these are unable to access medical care. Imagine your child being in physical pain, yet you are unable to get support for them, as there is no service for Tourettes locally. [UK 2024 Dir: Jess Harvey and Isolde Godfrey 4’25]
Coming Out Autistic - A short animated documentary that explores the experience of telling the world that you are autistic when you also identify as LGBTQ+. [UK 2022 Dir: Steven Fraser 4’00]
God Bless You - A harrowing depiction of a childhood experience of alcoholism and its impact on interfamily relationships and mental health. [UK 2023 Dir: Joseph Whitmore 5’50]
Whatever Moves is Alive - While slugs wander across the kitchen floor, Noémie draws up her self-portrait, shifting and fragmented, on the edge between the intimate and the hubbub of the world. [Belgium 2022 Dir: Noémie Marsily 11’’00]
Learning Disabilities in Primary Care - People with learning disabilities often experience worse physical and mental health. This film is a starting point to address these inequalities. [UK 2022 Dir: Ivyy Chen 6’10]
Just One Pint - Haley, a 23-year-old girl, uses alcohol to deal with the emotional trauma of a break-up from an abusive ex-boyfriend. [UK 2024 Dir: Lauren Hammersley 5’40]
Something New - A beautiful depiction of young people’s approach to dealing with the challenges of lockdown, across the globe. [UK 2023 Dir: Ivyy Chen 2’40]
Living with It - Perfectionist Lee must adapt to the imperfect reality of living with an illness - brought to life as a chaotic supernatural flatmate. [UK 2023 Dir: Holly Summerson 6’55]
What it Feels like - Voice hearing is a common mental health condition that many individuals live with. This filminvestigates the emotional imagery behind the words that people unwillingly hear. [UK 2018 Dir: Steven Fraser 3’00]
Procrastination - An investigative and exploratory hands-on gloves-off study into the practice of putting things off. [UK 2007 Dir: Johnny Kelly 4’15]
For more information about the London International Animation Festival please visit https://liaf.org.uk/