We are thrilled to announce that 28 filmmakers and special guests will join us for our Focus on Film programme – running from 16-19 October in Glasgow – to take part in thought-provoking conversations with audiences.

We look forward to hearing about the stories behind their films, their creative processes and their diverse perspectives on mental health.  

Find out more about the screenings we have coming up and our exciting line-up of guests. 

Silent Men 

Following its World Premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest – where it was awarded a Special Mention in the International First Feature Competition – Silent Men comes to Glasgow for its Scottish Premiere on Saturday 19 October.  

In his debut feature, filmmaker Duncan Cowles embarks on a journey to ask men about their experiences of mental health in an effort to understand his own struggles. This important exploration into a taboo topic is grounded in the filmmaker’s renowned deadpan humour and artistic flair.  

We’re delighted that Duncan will take part in a Q&A following this Glasgow screening, before the film goes on a SMHAF tour to Aberfeldy, Inverness, Dumfries and Dundee this October. Don’t miss these special preview screenings which will either be accompanied by a Q&A with Duncan or a panel discussion, ahead the film’s official UK release on International Men’s Day on 19 November. 

Silent Men has won the Feature Documentary award at SMHAF’s International Film Awards 2024. You can watch clips from the winning films across ten categories, and discover who will take home the Grand Jury Prize, at our International Film Awards ceremony on Thursday 17 October. 

Feature Films 

Winner of SMHAF’s Personal Narrative award, My Dad’s Tapes has its UK Premiere at the festival on Friday 18 October. When filmmaker Kurtis Watson searches a trove of home videos for clues to the cause of his father’s sudden suicide, it leads him on a cathartic journey of familial healing. 

Kurtis and producer Rob Viscardis will join us in person from Canada for a post-screening discussion. 

Chloe Abrahams will take part in a virtual Q&A after the Scottish Premiere of her hypnotic and lyrical documentary The Taste of Mango on Wednesday 16 October. Chloe’s moving love letter to her mother and grandmother, tenderly untangles painful knots in her family’s unspoken past. Among the accolades associated with this extraordinary film are Best Debut Director at the BIFAs and Best Documentary Audience Award at BFI London Film Festival. 

Shorts Programmes 

Scottish Stories (Friday 18 October) is an eclectic compilation of uniquely Scottish tales reflecting on themes of anxiety, health conditions and personal relationships. Locally based talent will be out in force with all six filmmakers taking part in a Q&A: Fin Bain (Floored), Alice Cornelia (So Perfect it Frightens Me), Erica Monde (There’s Not Much We Can Do), Sophie van Bree (Four Phonecalls of Anxiety), Heather E Andrews (This Werewolf Complex) and Gerald Lepkowski (Broono).  

All filmmakers whose work is featured in In Community (Friday 18 October) will also be in attendance for a discussion: Tim Mercier (US), Creative Natives (Learning to Surf), Elina Bry (Walking to Connect), Annmarie Strain (She is…), Isa Rao and Tom van den Hurk (A Little While Longer). This shorts programme explores collective healing, providing spaces to address anxiety, inner wounds and inequality. 

Diverse collection Interventions (Saturday 19 October) provides insights into the underground world of diffing, the self-improvement industry, and the psychiatric monastery where Vincent van Gogh spent an eventful year, amongst other topics. Blair Stewart (Stephen & David’s Toy Cupboard), Hannah van Tassel (Letters to Vincent), attending from the Netherlands, and Ruairi Bradley (We Beg to Differ), coming from Northern Ireland, will all join a post-screening discussion. 

Family Ties (Saturday 19 October) is programme of international shorts which takes a deep dive into family dynamics, exploring how family shapes our mental health and influences who we become. Filmmakers who will be on hand for a Q&A are Tianhui Wu (The Land Where Ghosts Could Speak), Theo Panagopoulos (The Place Between Was and Will Be), Catalina Kulczar (Daisy), coming from the USA, and Maria-May Backhaus Brown and Mads Theodor Bonde (Puddle), attending from Denmark. 

Our fifth and final shorts programme, In/Visible (Saturday 19 October), explores this year’s festival theme. This collection embraces the visible and invisible and the dissonance in-between, with Samona Olanipekun (i and i), Nima Shahmalekpur (Only When You Bury Me in this Earth) and Joré Janavičiūtē (Parking Lot), attending from Lithuania, all taking part in a discussion after the screening. 

Special Events 

Remember 2 Replenish is an immersive screening event that delves into the lived experiences of Black women, offering a cinematic exploration of self-care and resilience. This unique programme will be introduced by artist Christian Noelle Charles, who has curated it as part of her New Producer placement with SMHAF, supported by Film Hub Scotland.

Rebecca Day from Film in Mind, and Glasgow-based directors Theo Panagopoulos and Heather E Andrews will take part in open forum conversation In Dialogue // Documentality: The Price of Passion Report on Friday 18 October, to discuss the ways in which documentary filmmaking is impacting filmmakers’ mental health.