This week, we are thrilled to present two online premieres, both with Q&As. Join us for Living With The Lights On – the film, an adaptation of Mark Lockyer’s highly acclaimed solo theatre show about his experiences of mental illness, and Yoghurt Utopia, a fascinating documentary about a pioneering psychologist who created a successful cooperative in the Catalan hills with patients from a failing asylum.

Read about these two events and more in our programme below and we look forward to you joining us during the week. We hope that you are keeping safe and well. You can find resources for coping with your mental health during this challenging time at the Mental Health Foundation.

Film

This week’s film is Yoghurt Utopia, an uplifting documentary following a year in the life of a unique yoghurt brand in Catalonia which employs hundreds of people with mental health problems. Focusing on the upcoming retirement of its founder Cristobal Colon and the stories of many of the people who work there, it is a charming film about making space to allow people with mental health problems to thrive.

Directors David Baksh and Anna Thomson will join us for a live discussion on Zoom at 8.30pm on Thursday evening, with BSL interpretation available. Watch the film here and register for the discussion here.

Theatre

We are thrilled to present the world premiere of Living With The Lights On – the film, adapted from Mark Lockyer’s highly acclaimed solo theatre show about his experiences of mental illness. Directed by Geraldine Williams and performed by Lockyer, the film has been assembled from iPhone footage shot during the lockdown.

Speaking about the process for our programme notes, Mark Lockyer said: “We shot it on an iPhone because the aesthetic is beautifully cheap and wonderfully simple and honest. No gimmicks, just like the stage show. Honest, raw, visceral, inventive, imaginative, shocking but above all funny. I laugh at myself endlessly. I have been an actor for many years and have been blessed to have been involved with some great projects but this film for a myriad of reasons is the best piece of work I have ever made. It is beautifully simple and I hope it can inspire others that even on a shoestring ANYTHING is possible if you have the vision and desire. I hope you enjoy it.”

Watch the film now exclusively on our website, available until Monday 15 June. Mark Lockyer will also be joining us for a Zoom Q&A at 8.30pm on Monday 15 June. Register for tickets here.

In theatre this week, we also present the next instalment in Skye Loneragan’s series of quirky, questioning process-bites as she develops the new online version of Though This Be Madness. Part Two is titled Once Upon A Time, taken from the first line of the show, and sees Skye trying to figure out how best to represent her characters on screen.

We are also proud to feature an extract of TRACE by Abi Pirani, which uses puppetry, poetry and music to explore Pirani’s story of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Originally planned as a live show at SMHAF, the work is Pirani’s first film, created from her living room with a specially recorded soundtrack. The project has ongoing support from our partner See Me.

Eat. Move. Sleep. Repeat.

Performance practitioner Gillian Jane Less and visual artist Adam York Gregory lead Repeat, the next workshop in Eat. Move. Sleep. Repeat., a series of conversations with artists curated by Emma Jayne Park and Emily Furneuax.

Participants in the workshop will be invited to join a practice about North. The many different North’s: the personal ones, the global ones, the ones in which we find ourselves. It’s about direction and navigation, both external and internal.

Repeat will take place on Zoom from 11am-1pm on Wednesday 10 June. Register for your place here.

Catch Up

There is also plenty of opportunity to catch up on events you might have missed from recent weeks. The International Film Awards and Writing Awards are available to engage with online, with clips, readings, messages and more. You can also read all the winning entries from the Writing Competition, which have been collected in our Perpsectives ebook, illustrated by Josie Vallely, and more award-winning films will be shared online in the coming weeks. 

Our Family Shorts programme from 2019 also remains available to view online, with charming animations, quirky tales and a short film developed especially for SMHAF by children from Glengowan Primary School and BBC Scotland’s LAB. You can watch all these films on our website here. Also aimed at children, instructions to take part in GoMA’s mental health themed Saturday Art Club activities are also still online.

You can also get involved with Well Happy Words, a project brought to you by Renfrewshire-based organisation Well Happy, which provide inclusive classes and workshops to promote resilient health and wellbeing. CAPS Advocacy also continue to present new work in their Unlocked Art Gallery and you can also check out our SMHAF At Home gallery if you have not had chance to already.