A Black Cloud - In Conversation With Animator Emma Lazenby

"If you have a really, really difficult birth, nobody could see that, and nobody could understand why you are really, really struggling so much." A Black Cloud addresses a sensitive topic that is almost never discussed even though it is common--reproductive trauma. Emma Lazenby threads together pieces of different interviews where women were relieved to be able to openly talk about their experiences regarding difficult birth experiences and their aftermath. The result is a cohesive narrative about an overlooked, invisible trauma that deserves more awareness and empathy.

Emma's not-for-profit FormMed Films works to create "authentic, factual, and beautiful health education films." Their animation style is also quite aesthetically pleasing and obviously the result of hard, passionate work. You can check them out at About | ForMed Films CIC.

Borrowed Light - In Conversation With Writer/Actress/Producer Jenapher Zheng

"Looking back, I think, I am in a better position to take responsibility for some of the things that I might have regretted doing in my past, while also being able to forgive myself for not operating from a place of absolute control." Jenapher Zheng speaks about bipolar disorder, the intensity of mental health episodes during adolescence, generational trauma as a first-generation Chinese-American, and how "shame begets silence" in the short film Borrowed Light, created entirely by a female, non-binary, and LGBTQ team.

A Bridge To The Other Side - In Conversation With KT Curran

"I thought about the polarity in America, how divided we are, climate change, homelessness--you know, a lot of things that are impacting us as a society--but I found underpinning all of that, and coloring all of that, is our mental health." KT Curran discusses the many facets of mental health in a society grappling with COVID and its aftermath. This is all depicted in her feature film Bridge to the Other Side, which can be condensed to a succinct description: a woman joins a mobile crisis response team hoping to save her life, if the job doesn't kill her first.

KT Curran created Wingspan Productions during the pandemic to make films about social change: Wingspan Productions.org | Nonprofit Film Company

A Dollhouse 2020: Dance of Sins - In Conversation With Director Melanie Ekholdt

"It's very normal, statistically---but emotionally, for me, it felt like a big sin when I did the same step as Nora." Returning Mental Filmness filmmaker Melanie Ekholdt in conversation about her experimental film and art project A Dollhouse 2020. In the project she re-imagines a future version of Nora, the character in Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House, to allow herself the freedom to explore the emotional toll of divorce on one's mental health.

Don't Worry About It - In Conversation With Director Melissa Kong

"OCD is not just about cleaning, but about this idea that you feel dirty." Melissa Kong talks OCD myths, stereotypes, and realities, exposure therapy, and eating a cookie off a toilet in her darkly humorous short Don't Worry About It.

Equilibrium (Israel) - In Conversation With Director Brit Leibovitz & Writer Rotem Rubinstein

"One of the problems I have with the presentation of eating disorders is that people think that it's only about the way you look---and it's so much deeper than that." Israeli filmmakers Brit Leibovitz and Rotem Rubinstein go deep and answer the hard questions about their raw, authentic portrayal of eating disorders in their film Equilibrium.

Equilibrium (South Africa) - In Conversation With Director Paballo Mokwena

"Just as the sun rises, and then it sets---you too can create a new day for yourself." South African filmmaker Paballo Mokwena speaks about generational trauma, perception, accepting the dark sides of ourselves, rebirth, and ultimately, balance---all huge themes to unpack in one symbolic, powerful short film.

Through her Youtube channel Project Paballo, Paballo talks about her perspective on the filmmaking industry in South Africa, facilitates stretch sequences, and shares what's on her heart. (1) Project Pblo - YouTube

How to Explain Your Mental Illness to Stanley Kubrick - In Conversation With Director Philip Brubaker

"It's 67 minutes long, and that is because Stanley Kubrick graduated high school with a 67 average." Mental Filmness returning filmmaker Philip Brubaker explains his weird and wonderful, "unclassifiable," movie How to Explain Your Mental Illness to Stanley Kubrick, filmed during a rare psychotic episode. Part video essay, part memoir, and part unexplainable, the film chronicles Brubaker's re-evaluation of his hero through the lens of his bipolar disorder.

Just In Case - In Conversation With April Kelley

"When I can't sleep and I'm manic or whatever, I Google 'bipolar stories,' just in the hope of, you know, finding some comfort." April Kelley, the writer and lead actress in Just In Case, provides comfort to others living with bipolar disorder by relating an open and honest father-daughter discussion about it drawn from her own experiences. The film can both help people with the diagnosis feel less alone and help those who wish to understand it learn more.

Keep Painting, Mom - In Conversation With Director Heloise Magny

"It's about finding your own purpose, finding the passion in your life--then you will be able to get through everything." Director and animator Heloise Magny talks about teenage depression, suicide prevention, different styles of animation, and the healing power of art for mental health in her bold, striking animated short Keep Painting, Mom, inspired by comic books and German expressionism.

Lift the Mask: Portraits of Life with Mental Illness - In Conversation With Maya Kaufman of the Quell Foundation

"Would you trust someone with a mental illness to babysit your kid? The majority of the answers were 'no' until people saw the film, and afterwards, you know, you just saw this change of perspective." Maya Kaufman speaks up about the Quell Foundation and its many efforts to break stigma against mental illness. The foundation's scholarship program, work with first responders, and other initiatives for social change in the mental health field are further documented on their website at Let’s Remove the Stigma - The Quell Foundation

The Locked Door - In Conversation With Director Dmitry Badera

"In Ukraine, people mostly don't talk about their mental health." Ukranian director Dmitry Badera takes a brave, stigma-breaking stand by creating and screening his empathetic and realistic short film about Igor, who suffers with agoraphobia, and his brother Andrew, who doesn't understand it.

Make Up Your Mind - In Conversation With Hayley Anne Nash

"Just because you're depressed on the inside, doesn't mean you look depressed." Writer-director Hayley Anne Nash discusses using strong women, societal perceptions, layered meaning, and grounded sci-fi to explore mental health.

The Mind's Image - In Conversation With Filmmaker Daniel Asadi Faezi & Researcher Katrin Singler

"This one woman who comes entering the therapy session in a, let's say, quite depressed or down mood, and then she paints that tree and afterwards you can see in her face development, that is exactly the kind of thing we were looking for when portraying this therapy." The Mind's Image is a documentary made for a research project on the effects of art therapy on nursing home residents. It quietly and often joyfully captures something we often overlook in society: the mental health of the elderly.

Re-Live - In Conversation With Director Ratana Aiyawongse

"I'm coming from Thailand, where when we're talking about mental health, lots of people say this is just, like, a thing you're creating---it's not true." Director Ratana (Punpun) Aiyawongse talks about how his interest in documentaries on social causes led him to the Kettle organization in Canada, which in turn led him to the subject Kagan Goh, who believes a central tenet of his recovery from bipolar disorder is helping others. Some viewers may remember Kagan as the creator of the short film The Day My Cat Saved My Life.

Solstice - In Conversation With Director Helen Newman

"[Suicide grief] is a complicated grief---it's much more layered and complicated than the grief from a different kind of death." Helen Newman opens up about her documentary Solstice, inspired by her connection with the Solstice event Annette and Stuart Baker created in regional Australia in honor of the daughter, Mary, they lost to suicide. On the shortest day of the year, in bitter cold, survivors of suicide loss and their loved ones huddle together in warmth and solidarity. Newman captures how the Solstice event has created ripple effects across the town of Albury surrounding the need to talk more openly about suicide and mental health, and the need to improve mental health services.

The Winter Solstice event is live-streamed now (keep in mind the Australian Winter Solstice is June 21st): Winter Solstice – SOS&F (survivorsofsuicide.org.au)

Sticks and Stones - In Conversation With Filmmakers William Doan & Cynthia White

"The drawings are a direct result of me making a conscious effort to be in touch with myself." Co-creators and Anxiety Project members William Doan and Cynthia White in conversation regarding toxic masculinity, how it's systemic, how it affects mental health, and how you can recover from it. These are all big themes touched upon in their multidisciplinary animated short.

Sticks and Stones – Inhale, Exhale, Draw – the Anxiety Project (inhaleexhaledraw.com)

Tough Guys Forget - In Conversation With Rob Riutta

"I understand that people like my father's generation, some of them were trying to live up to the previous generation, like from World War II, and I think it was about how tough you can be, and how strong you are. And sometimes when you're that way, you overlook some of the softer sides and maybe expect someone else to pick that up." Rob Riutta discusses coming to terms with his father, how the real "tough guys" can sometimes forget and forgive, and making an art movie about depression, dementia, and PTSD that is inspired by Cassavetes and the French New Wave.

Troubled Minds - In Conversation With Raitis & Lauris Abele

"Having a lot of experience with....bipolar disorder, one thing leads to another, and it builds on itself, and as less sleep happens, more ideas start to make sense." Brothers and co-directors and co-writers Raitis and Lauris Abele talk about how they used their first-hand experience with bipolar disorder to craft a realistic film about it set against the sometimes absurdist backdrop of the contemporary art world.

The Weight of the Inevitable - In Conversation With Alberto Dalla

"It's imagining ourselves not existing--it is, of course, too much." Some people are so afraid of dying, they take their own life. Alberto Dalla opens up about thanatophobia--a very specific, yet largely unknown, disorder prompted by the fear of death. He connected with other subjects that struggled with this unique condition and shared their stories in his powerful documentary.