Blog: Film festivals

The International Film Competition returns for 2015, calling on all film makers, established or aspiring, to submit their mental health films to this unique festival.

Now in its ninth year, the competition provides its award-winners with the opportunity to showcase their films to Festival audiences; winning films will be screened during the Festival in October 2015, and honoured at the International Film Awards ceremony.

Previous winning films have examined issues including ageing, childhood, equality, friendship, grief, music and sport, as well as specific mental health conditions. 2015 attracted entries from Scotland and the rest of the UK, Europe, Iran, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, the USA and Canada. We will accept films of any length and made at any time, as long as they have not previosly been submitted to the Festival.

Award-winning work from the 2014 edition of the Festival included: joint Jury Prize winning films ‘Here One Day’, an emotional and candid film about the reverberations of suicide for those left behind; and ‘Today is Monday’, an observational film which provides an insightful window into ageing and dementia. Also amongst the winning films was ‘Sea Front’, a beautiful stop motion animation set during the First World War; and ‘Images of Bedlam’ which explores the interaction between mental health and artistic expression .

Kathy Leichter, jury prize winning film maker with ‘Here One Day’ travelled from New York to attend the ceremony:

“I was honored to be amongst such mental health heroes—the filmmakers and the festival staff that make the SMHAFF happen. The festival team was so kind and welcoming and fun to be with. They gave us filmmakers many chances to really get to know each other. By the time I left, just days later, we—the filmmakers and festival team-- were all friends. I left feeling like I was part of a powerful gang of mental health warriors, fanning out into the world with our stories to open hearts and minds and inspire change. Thank you SMHAFF!”