International Film Awards (2013)
The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival’s annual open film submission gives filmmakers from all over the world the platform to challenge perceptions of mental health, share their ideas with new audiences and explore the realities of mental health through film.
Returning for its seventh year, the SMHAFF International Film Awards was the culmination of the festival’s year-long international open submission competition. Films submitted address themes of mental health, and this year’s competition saw over 110 entries from Scottish, British and European filmmakers, as well as entries from as far afield as Canada, the USA, India and Israel.
Chosen by a panel drawn from arts and mental health contexts, the winning films have a focus on documentary yet cover a diverse range of subjects, including: a couple’s everyday battle to remember their life together in the face of Alzheimer’s (Pe&Fu, Memoirs of a Heart); an insider’s view of schizophrenia (There is a Fault in Reality); and the horror of suffering from hyper-acoustic sensitivity in Tel Aviv – one of the nosiest cities on earth (Noise).
Jury Prize
Pe&Fu, Memoirs of a Heart
Sergio Caro Cadenas (Spain, 2013) 10m
Pepe plays it. He asks Fuencisla to look to the side and when she turns plants a kiss on the cheek. Sixty-five years later, Pepe keeps kissing his wife daily, but only one of them remembers that first kiss on the outskirts of Segovia. Pe&Fu, Memoirs of a Heart is the story of an indomitable love.
Pe&Fu, Memoirs of a Heart
Award Winners
Youth Perspective
Winner
Mental: A Family Experience
Chris Tomlie
Scotland, 2013
14m
A short documentary about my brother Matthew who suffers from psychosis, capturing the struggles a family can experience if someone they know suffers, but also how it can bond a family together through tackling it.
Youth Perspective
Highly Commended
50 Tips to Make the World Suck Less
CREATE Paisley
Scotland, 2013
6m
CREATE Paisley is a youth organization in Paisley, Scotland that attempts to engage with young people to both help develop their life skills and also to express themselves through different art forms. This film was written, produced and directed by their filmmaking team.
Artist Film
Joint Winner
Considering Carol
Patrick Trolan
Northern Ireland, 2011
4m
Considering Carol describes Carol’s feelings upon entering and leaving psychiatric hospital, taking the audience on a journey through the treatment she received for her depression and where she finds herself today.
Artist Film
Joint Winner
Voices
Bob Owtram
Scotland, 2013
20m
Evocative, powerful, beautiful and at times controversial, ‘Voices’ is a film narrative which takes the audience on an emotional experience through mental distress and on to the recovery journey. Stunning film imagery and sound accompany the narrative, which is created from existing artistic works of song, poetry, prose and artwork.
Drama
Winner
I Spy
Chelsea Bulloch
UK, 2013
6m
Bella lives with her father, who has bipolar disorder. Using her dolls to escape from it all, imagination begins to merge with reality and matters soon spiral out of Bella’s control.
Drama
Highly Commended
The Sound at the Window
Nursel Doğan
Turkey, 2012
19m
Gülizar was forced to move from her small village to the big city. The only language she can speak is her native language, Kurdish. She finds herself up against endless challenges. She can’t even speak with a doctor, one of the most basic rights.
Feature Length Documentary
Winner
Not Without You
Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster
Netherlands, 2012
84m
Not Without You is an intimate portrait of an elderly artist couple that has to say goodbye to life and to each other. Filmed by their son, the film shows how photographer Hermaine and painter Ger cope with the frustrations of old age and illness. How will love and passion for art help them through the most difficult part of their lives?
Feature Length Documentary
Highly Commended
Noise
Dan and Noit Geva
Israel, 2012
72m
A documentary comedy narrated, with a deep sense of self irony, by a mostly hidden antagonist: the wife of a man who suffers from hyper-acoustic sensitivity, a mental condition which makes his life in Tel Aviv – one of the nosiest urban locations on earth – a living hell. The award-winning documentary couple resolves to investigate the issue, the inner psychological journey after the mental sources of the disturbance is conflated with a whimsical installation of surveillance cameras in order to capture the cradles of this formidable sonic muddle that invades their daily lives.
Mid-Length Documentary
Winner
There is a Fault in Reality
Tom Cotton
UK, 2010
30m
In There is a Fault in Reality, writer, director and psychotherapist Tom Cotton explores the stories of three people – Jon, Peter and Jacqui who have all been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Through them, we enter a detailed insider’s view of schizophrenia, which bears little resemblance to the mainstream perception.
Long Drama
Highly Commended
Jaywick Escapes
Karen Guthrie
UK, 2012
48m
Despite being officially Britain’s most deprived place, Jaywick promises a fresh start with sea views at bargain rents, just a stone’s throw from London. This film follows the lives of three Jaywick newcomers, drifters whose reasons to escape here are revealed across a year. At its heart is Nick, a reformed wide boy. Recently widowed, he fulfils a long-held dream of moving to Jaywick, throwing himself into a new life. But before long, and as they have for the town itself, things seem to go very wrong.
Short Documentary
Winner
Pe&Fu, Memoirs of a Heart
Sergio Caro Cadenas
Spain, 2013
10m
Pepe plays it. He asks Fuencisla to look to the side and when she turns plants a kiss on the cheek. Sixty-five years later, Pepe keeps kissing his wife daily, but only one of them remembers that first kiss on the outskirts of Segovia. Pe&Fu, Memoirs of a Heart is the story of an indomitable love.
Short Documentary
Highly Commended
Jää (On Ice)
Sanna Liljander
Finland, 2013
7m
“Why don’t you just get up from there?” Once in a while you have to shatter the ice and confront the cold dark water underneath. On Ice is a short documentary film about depression, friendship and willpower.
Submit Your Film
The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF) will return from 19 October to 8 November 2026 for its 20th year.
Film submissions are open until Friday 17 April 2026. Find full guidelines and eligibility criteria on our FilmFreeway listing.
