Thu 10 May
International Film Awards
Join us for our annual awards ceremony at the CCA, as we honour the very best submissions to our international film competition. It’s your chance to get a first look at the award-winning titles that will be screening throughout the weekend and join us in welcoming talented filmmakers from across the world. Presented by film critic Alistair Harkness and followed by a drinks reception.
6-8pm
FREE
Fri 11 May
The Silent Glow: Recovering the Present
International Premiere
Anja Krug-Metzinger | Germany | 2017 | 88m
English, French & German with English subtitles
Amidst rising concerns about young people’s mental health, this timely and insightful documentary reveals the impact that mindfulness training is having on children and teenagers in educational settings across Europe. Are we seeing a new culture of consciousness emerge, which could enable young people to take responsibility for their own lives, for society and for the world?
This screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Rohan Gunatillake and Youth Mindfulness, led by Rachael Hood, Families, Children and Young People’s Manager at Mental Health Foundation Scotland.
1-3pm
FREE
Youth Perspective + Directors Q&A
Discover four works by talented young filmmakers, addressing some of the most pressing mental health issues facing young people today. In Cotton Wool, a teenager and her seven-year-old brother must rapidly adapt to the role of young carers when their mother suffers a devastating stroke; Bulldoze uses vivid puppetry to highlight how mental health can affect us all; and in But Honey, You Look Fine, a young filmmaker document her closest friend’s struggle with bulimia. This screening is co-presented with Into Film Scotland, who will also be screening a short work on the theme of Beginnings, created through workshops held as part of Year of Young People 2018.
Followed by a post-screening Q&A with directors Jennifer Leonforte, Nicholas Connor and Jake Earwaker, and Yasmin Al-Hadithi from Into Film Scotland.
3.30-5pm
FREE
UK Shorts + Directors Q&A
There’s no shortage of homegrown talent when it comes to filmmaking that addresses mental health. Through documentary, drama and animation, this selection of shorts demands that we consider what might be going on beneath a person’s surface. Whether based in fact or fiction, these local stories all urge humanity, empathy and understanding.
Followed by a post-screening discussion with Katrina Brown (Riding Through the Dark, Community Award), Iain Robertson (Bridge), Dimitris Simou (Maybe It’s Me, Animation Award) and Andy Mark Simpson (Waterbabies).
5.30-7.30pm
FREE
Crazy + Director Q&A
Documentary Award | Scottish Premiere
Lise Zumwalt | USA | 2016 | 60m
After eight years in the mental health system, Eric takes the decision to exercise control over his treatment for schizophrenia. What follows is an intense struggle with the law, his doctors and his family, as he strives to find his own path to wellbeing. With a powerful human story at its heart, Crazy raises vital questions about human rights and stigma in the context of a system that fails to account for individual circumstances.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Lise Zumwalt.
8-9.30pm
£5 / £3
Sat 12 May
Horizon
Drama Award | UK Premiere
Giancarlo Sanchez | Netherlands | 2016 | 49m
Cast: Susan Radder, Tijn Docter, Megan de Kruijf
Dutch with English subtitles
In this coming of age drama, fiery 16-year-old Lieke is still grieving after the loss of her mother but finds release as she trains for an upcoming diving competition. However, when her coach invites another girl to join the team, she slowly loses control over her emotions. Screening alongside #will (2017, Sweden, Per Sundström), in which a teenage vlogger battles with online harassment and bullying, as well as pervasive suicidal thoughts.
2-4pm
FREE
International Shorts + Filmmakers Q&A
There are countless ways to compellingly address mental health on screen. This programme gathers some of the most accomplished examples from around the globe, demonstrating that borders are not barriers to understanding. Accounting for experiences with mental health at all stages of life and in diverse social contexts, the selected films hail from Africa, Australia, Europe and Japan.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Richard Keaney (Scope) and Saya Terai and Hideki Nishizawa (Bullying & Behaviour)
5-7pm
FREE
Second Spring + Director Q&A
Scottish Premiere
Andy Kelleher | UK | 2017 | 86m
Cast: Cathy Naden, Jerry Killick, Matthew Jure
After a series of unusual encounters, it is obvious to those that know her best that Kathy is not herself. After being diagnosed with a rare form of early-onset dementia, she leaves the safety of her marriage for a man she barely knows, hoping to reconnect with herself in the marshland of his childhood home. This poignant and compassionate drama explores identity, freedom and what it means to be human.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Andy Kelleher.
7.30-9.30pm
£5 / £3
Sun 13 May
Experimental Shorts + Filmmakers Q&A
Artistic representations of mental health are renowned for their experimentation. This programme brings together diverse films from around the world, connected by their exceptional innovations in form, content and style. Blending multiple artforms, with roots in spoken word, dance, theatre and music, as well as radical approaches to storytelling, this selection embraces cinema at its boundaries.
This screening with be followed by a Q&A with Dominique Tipper and Ann Akin (Trying to Find Me)
1.30-3pm
FREE
Embodied Trauma + Filmmakers Panel Discussion
In these complex and deeply personal documentaries, three women explore how their lives have been affected by traumatic experiences surrounding sexual assault. below the neck, above the knees contemplates a community’s experiences with bodily trauma; in Sanctioned, a young woman uses life modelling to re-examine her relationship with her body followed a sexual assault; and in Laura’s Journey, a documentarian follows his friend as she revisits Morocco and the scene of her trauma in an attempt to heal her psychological wounds.
This screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Matteo Born abd Laura Fischer (director and subject of Laura’s Journey), Dominique Murphy – de Neef and Jess Tasmin (director and subject Sanctioned), and Laura Wylie (Sexual Violence Prevention at the Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre).
3.30-5pm
FREE
In My Mind + Q&A
A film premiere of four short films made by Track Record Productions for BBC Scotland with well-known Scots talking honestly about mental health. Paralympian Samantha Kinghorn, actor Gavin Mitchell, model Misha Hart and footballer David Cox reveal how they look after their everyday mental wellbeing.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with David Cox and other guests to be announced.
6-7pm
FREE