As previously mentioned, Mental Filmness is a big advocate of the voice of youth in mental health. The next, younger generation is shedding the stigma against speaking openly about mental health conditions and is spreading awareness through avenues like social media and art. The voice of youth is armed with a vocabulary about diagnoses and medication that was suppressed in silence for their ancestors, and they are also savvy and woke enough to know that not all of this vocabulary is medically accurate or culturally sensitive.
It’s interesting to see youth tackle a topic that is old as time itself, like nature therapy. Looking Up feels both old and young–for generations it’s been common knowledge that getting outside, getting fresh air, and taking in natural landscapes is good for both your physical and mental health. The three emerging female directors behind Looking Up—Lily Winter (New Zealand), Stephanie Guest (South Africa/Philippines), and Charlotte Gillespie (England), college students from New Zealand—do not aim to put a modern twist on this narrative. They’re confident enough that some quiet, contemplative, and beautiful nature photography and composition, relaxing and ambient sound design, and a few compelling interwoven stories from people describing how birdwatching has helped alleviate their depression, trauma, and anxiety, will work its ageless magic. They’re right. Meditative and healing, Looking Up is literally a breath of fresh air.
The Mental Filmness team has been continually surprised by the quality of films about mental health made by kids as young as high-school-age teenagers. This year we had enough youth filmmaking we had enough to fill a whole block of shorts. If the formula’s not broken, there’s no need to fix it. Go outside on a day when you’re stressed out and look up—you’ll see a whole other world playing out in the treetops, and get just a glimpse of the complicated web of life that is both outside of, connected to, and a part of you. You might just spot a sparrow or a blackbird while you’re there.
Don’t miss Looking Up streaming for FREE in Shorts Block No. 4 (Youth In Mental Health) through 11/2: Looking Up | Shorts Block No. 4 – Youth In Mental Health | Mental Filmness 2025 Virtual Festival
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