As part of our commitment to fostering new work that explores mental health, we are delighted to present and discuss new works in progress from five artists, giving audiences an insight into performances that may appear at future SMHAF events.

Join Govan & Linthouse Parish and their artist in residence for a public workshop, which will retell the story of Govan through the eyes of its community and highlights creativity as a coping strategy for mental health issues.

Engine Room & SMHAF present an open session for artists exploring or interested in exploring mental health and their own autobiography in their work, facilitated by SMHAF Associate Artist Emma-Jayne Park.This discussion will allow artists with an autobiographical practice to share their experiences, encourage a dialogue around how artists can best safeguard themselves within that process and ask if there are any sectoral changes that could better support this work.

An evening offering opportunities to be inspired through observation, interaction and participation, featuring an exhibition of new works exploring fresh buds of creativity across indoor and outdoor spaces.

Come and watch this stand-up comedy performance, the culmination of an eight-week course for members of Platform’s Culture Café community group, led by Best Medicine Comedy.

You have been signed up to a game you never wanted to play.

Your family member is in prison, only you can pass go.

Roll the dice; one step forward, two spaces back.

Be ready for anything.

Uncover the rules and some day you may win.

CON(SCRIPTED) is an interactive performance encompassing poetry, soundscape, installation and sensory overload. 

Documentary Award Winner

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. 

The Distant Voices project invites you to the launch of a truly remarkable album. Not Known at this Address brings together some of Scotland’s most celebrated songwriters with people who have first-hand experience of the criminal justice system.

In these complex and deeply personal documentaries, three women explore how their lives have been affected by traumatic experiences surrounding sexual assault. Followed by a panel discussion with Dominique Murphy - de Neef and Jess Tasmin (director and documentary subject, Sanctioned); Matteo Born and Laura Fischer (director and documentary subject, Laura's Journey); and Laura Wylie (Sexual Violence Prevention at the Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre). 

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 will be followed by a Q&A with director Dominique Tipper and writer-actor Ann Akin from Trying to Find Me. 

Join this feel good woodland photo walk to capture spring beginnings, beautiful blossoms and tree canopies.

Drama Award Winner

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.

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.

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. Followed by a drinks reception.

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 and Europe.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Scope director Richard Keaney and Saya Terai and Hideki Nishizawa from Bullying & Behaviour. 

Adolescent Brain Development and Why Our Marbles Matter

Are you scared the adolescents in your care are either ‘going mad’, ‘being bad’ or ‘feeling sad’ and you have no idea what to do or how to help?

For 2018, Creative Therapies’ annual exhibition showcases work made in our Education programme, Shine On.  Images created by children participating in art therapy sessions in Glasgow primary schools allow us glimpses into their inner worlds to provide a stimulating and thought-provoking show.

Kane Power Theatre

Mental is an exploration of the mind with music, anecdotes and medical notes, telling the moving and personal story of one son’s relationship with his bipolar mother.

Moving Minds X: Beginnings

Now in its 10^th year, Moving Minds is a day of celebration at Kelvingrove with events exploring diversity and mental wellbeing. Join us throughout the day for music, song, dance, a fashion show, a guided tour, interactive stalls and other creative activities.

All events are free and family friendly but some have limited places. Booking is required for the Creative Writing Workshop. 

Event Programme

10am: Doors Open

10.30am-3pm: Interactive Stalls

Stalls range from creative activities to information on local mental health charities and activities taking place throughout Scotland.

11am-12.30pm: Creative Writing Workshop (Booking Required)

11am-12pm: Music and Song

11.30am-12pm: Beginnings: A Guided Tour

A chance to take a unique 30 minute tour of selected objects from Kelvingrove Museum, developed especially for Moving Minds exploring the theme of Beginnings. Places are limited and allocated on a first come first served basis.

12-12.20pm: Maryhill Integration Network's Joyous Choir

MIN's Joyous Choir is an all-female singing group, brought together with support from New Rhythms For Glasgow's Belt it Oot Project. The group enjoys singing together and performing across the city to share the joy and freedom of using the voice as a tool to celebrate connection with the self and others.

12.30-1pm: Weaving Across the World

In this fashion show and dance performance, led by Maryhill Integration Network, AlbScot and Handmade in Glasgow, traditional Eastern and Western fashion comes together in a fusion of diversity and colour.

1.30-3pm Writing for Wellbeing (Booking Required)

2.30-3.30pm Tai Chi Demonstration

The Hong Wo Tai Chi Association presents a performance including sword form, followed by a short open participation session.

Inclusive adult group drumming sessions focused on mental health and wellbeing. 

Come along to see this exhibition of artwork created by asylum seeking and refugee women. There will also be opportunity to take part in an interactive workshop, including stories from refugees, poetry and Theatre of the Oppressed tactics.

Scottish Premiere

Andy Kelleher | UK | 2017 | 86m

Cast: Cathy Naden, Jerry Killick, Matthew Jure

This poignant and compassionate drama explores identity, freedom and what it means to be human. 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 screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Andy Kelleher. 

Join us to honour the very best entries from our annual writing competition, held in partnership with Bipolar Scotland. Prepare to be inspired by the winning writers as they read from their work, while there will also be live music and a drinks reception.

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. 

A performance exploring memory, identity, family and most importantly of all, the joy of music.

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. 

Discover four works by talented young filmmakers, addressing some of the most pressing mental health issues facing young people today. Followed by a post-screening Q&A with Jennifer Leonforte, Nicholas Connor, Jake Earwaker and Into Film Scotland.