MENTAL FILMNESS 2024
THE ANNUAL FESTIVAL – chicago live screenings
OCTOBER 10, 7:00 PM @ CHICAGO HOPE ACADEMY – chicagoland filmmaker shorts
The Chicago Hope Academy, an old chapel attached to a school on the West Side of Chicago, turned out to be a great new venue for the festival with its beautiful old architecture and high-end A/V system. Our Chicago filmmaker nights drew a good crowd for us (even bigger than it looks because it is a huge venue), enough to feel supportive while still intimate enough for engagement.
Seunghee Chang takes the mic, which was passed to each filmmaker as the audience asked questions and made comments about the films. As usual our audience had a lot to say about the portrayal of mental health in the films as well as the stories and the process of making them.
We were graced with submissions from so many talented Chicagoland filmmakers that we featured two nights of short films from Chicago talent! Standing here on stage after screening their works are, from left to right, filmmakers Lara Haciosmanoglu, Laura Lewis-Barr, Nick Sansone, and Seunghee Chang. All of them were delighted to screen their short films for an appreciative audience and had a lot to say about the theme of mental health in their work.
october 11, 7:00 pm @ chicago hope academy – chicagoland filmmaker shorts
Oh, what a night! The second evening of the annual festival went deep and got real with discussions of standardized patients and mental health, stigma against therapy in the black community, sobriety, pandemic anxiety, and doomscrolling and suicide. These films featured some heavy themes, yet you can see smiles on the filmmakers’ faces. I believe they brought a sense of healing, community, and catharsis to the conversation. Pictured from left to right: local filmmakers Lori Felker, Cortez Mack, Jason H. Bonner, Sean Pierce, and Sarah Kopp & Lomai.
A pensive moment from Sean Pierce, Sarak Kopp, and Lomai as they field an audience question, listening intently and forming a response. This talkback was incredible and among the most personal and vulnerable I have heard.
Say cheese! I think we all felt we bonded a little that night, filmmakers and audience, due to the highly personal nature of the narratives we shared about mental health. This group photo of organizer Sharon Gissy and the filmmakers is a cherished memento of a truly special festival evening.
october 12, 7:00 pm @ chicago hope academy – a screening of compression
We closed out the fest with Compression, a unique and colorful psychological horror film that tackles trauma, anxiety, and agoraphobia through the eyes of a true crime podcaster on a psychedelic trip. Filmmakers Jakob Bilinski, Emily Jean Durchholz, and Kevin Roach traveled to Chicago from Evansville, Indiana to give an insightful and illuminating talkback. They were clearly happy to discuss the film with an audience and were truly delightful guests.
Introducing the creators of Compression—writer/director/producer Jakob Bilinski, producer-lead actress Emily Jean Durchholz, and lead actor Kevin Roach. A trifecta of talent ready to do a deep-dive discussion into the surreal psycho-drama and its dreamlike layers.
Compression is such a colorful and vibrant film, it was a real treat to see it on the big screen and let its psychedelic journey wash over you.
community healing screening
june 1, 1:00 pm @ the douglass branch of the chicago public library (with filmmaker cortez mack and flourish research; sponsored by the african american heritage committee)
Local filmmaker Cortez Mack screened three short films about mental health and healing in the black community. Bobby is a short film about a 40-year-old black man suffering from dementia; The Dinner Table is a short film about how families no longer have conversation at the dinner table; and Splitting Image is a short film about father-son relationships. After each film Cortez facilitated discussion from the audience. The audience opened up to tell very personal stories about dementia, checking in with family members, and mental health.
The audience for Cortez Mack’s Community Healing Screening was modest and intimate, but that turned out not to be a bad thing. As usual at Mental Filmness, the audience was incredibly engaged and almost every audience member got a chance to speak at length. Discussion was easily sparked both by the important themes of the films and by Cortez Mack himself, a licensed minister who has a gift for leading meaningful conversation.
Flourish Research was an incredible partner for this event. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are specialties for this clinical trial company and they offer free memory screenings. Flourish Research provided information about their free memory testing as well as literature about prevention, games to keep your brain active, and a very generous donation of fresh fruit. Representatives from Flourish Research also heavily contributed to discussions about all of the films and offered helpful information about dementia recognition, prevention, and treatment during discussions.
secrets women keep: a screening and performance
april 6, 1:00 pm @ independence branch library (with filmmaker jessica mathis and comedienne mandee mckelvey)
Filmmaker Jessica Mathis’s collection of animated shorts Triggered won the Realism Award in the Mental Filmness 2023 virtual festival. She traveled from Kentucky to Chicago to screen it for a receptive audience that opened up to its rarely-seen storytelling about women with post-traumatic stress disorder, and how often it goes unidentified and unaddressed.
Comedienne Mandee McKelvey, who has been touring with Jessica Mathis, performed a one-woman comedy and storytelling show about women’s body autonomy. She told a segment of her story about irregular breast growth in her adolescence that had the library audience cracking up, relating, and opening up to tell their own stories about women’s bodies and medical misunderstandings. Mandee’s candid, confessional style generated some personal and vulnerable conversations from women in the room.
Jessica screened the debut of a short film called iSwap from another Kentucky talent, filmmaker Shane Devon. In the film, adolescents at a party can experience living in the body of another gender when they wear a pair of magic glasses. iSwap fit right into the theme of body autonomy and was a unique and personal grounded sci-fi take on gender dysphoria created by a filmmaker who had experienced it, and the audience expressed their appreciation for its distinctive take on the theme.
MENTAL FILMNESS 2023
5000 blankets screening & blanket drive
december 17, 2:00 PM @ Independence branch library
HOLIDAY SHOWCASE
December 16, 2:00 pm @ edgewater branch library (with filmmakers brandon jones & alyssa thordarson, and adrienne mccue of step up for mental health)
The holiday showcase really did have a great turnout—in fact, one of our best yet! It turns out people like festive occasions like this with a different, but no less important, take on mental health. Thanks to all who made it such a success!
Brandon Jones is another local Chicago filmmaker who submitted Side B, a short film about a record store owner finding healing from trauma around the holidays thanks to music. The audience responded to the message of catharsis and forgiveness in his film, and Brandon spoke beautifully about how he drew inspiration from his local setting and actress, his film and musical influences, and more.
Local filmmaker Alyssa Thordarson returned to us with her short film Paper Planes, a twist on a classic holiday romance that features a character struggling with agoraphobia. Paper Planes was a surprisingly upbeat film for the festival that had great audience appeal, and Alyssa spoke eloquently about her roles directing, writing, and acting in the short film.
Adrienne McCue of Step Up For Mental Health brought educational literature and giveaways about the services her organization provides to the community. She also delivered an incredibly moving speech about her own family’s struggles with mental illness and why she decided to begin a nonprofit devoted to mental health.
OCTOBER 6, 7:00-10:00 PM @ UIC STUDENT CENTER EAST (With Margaret byrne, any given day participants, and dr. cheryl taliaferro from uic)
Any Given Day is a beautifully shot, intimate look into Cook County mental health court participants and their experience with mental illness and the criminal justice system. We were lucky enough to have filmmaker Margaret Byrne and documentary participants Daniel and Gina join us in a discussion panel following a screening. The audience conversation was open, vulnerable, and engaged, and the filmmakers set the tone for that with their candid stories.
Dr. Cheryl Taliaferro, a staff psychologist at UIC, was gracious enough to attend our event and to provide a list of mental health resources and preferred terms relating to mental illness, substance use, and homelessness prior to the screening. We were grateful to have her presence there as our discussion touched upon many of these sensitive issues.
Our full panel, left to right: organizer Sharon Gissy, Dr. Cheryl Taliaferro, documentary participants Gina and Daniel, and director Margaret Byrne. I believe we were answering questions and listening to stories at this point. The audience really opened up and wanted to talk.
OCTOBER 7, 7:00-10:00 PM @ FACETS CINEMATHEQUE
Our inaugural youth in mental health shorts block screened before The Year Between, a brave film made by NAMI Chicago 2023 youth in mental health honoree Alex Heller. This was our first attempt at a Zoom/live hybrid discussion panel and I think all of the young filmmakers enjoyed themselves and felt honored.
The Year Between is a brave and funny portrayal of bipolar disorder drawn from writer-director-star Alex Heller’s real-life experience. I was delighted that it was made and produced locally and Full Spectrum Features and Level Forward granted Mental Filmness permission to screen it. It made a great capstone film for the festival.
MENTAL FILMNESS 2022
Live & In-Person (For the first time since 2019!)
October 15, 7:00-10:00 PM @ THe davis theater (With alyssa thordarson, and vanessa leonard and Cast & Crew)
We couldn’t find another chair in our theater, so we did some good old-fashioned Mental Filmness improv with some standing Q and A’s. Alyssa Thordarson’s powerful short film After: A Love Story, about a couple struggling in the aftermath of a shared trauma, generated some insightful conversation.
Alyssa was actually, oddly enough, our first guest filmmaker from Chicago. Her short also played the Chicago Critics Film Festival. We invented a new award for her (Hometown Heroes) for representing realistic and empathetic mental health on film in our very own Windy City.
Our feature presentation of A Story Worth Living had been years in the making. Vanessa Leonard contacted the festival early on, in its very first year in 2019, and expressed an interest in screening with us—but only in person. She finally made it and was an incredibly engaging and sincere guest; I wish we had left more time for her and her crew to speak.
For diligently following and keeping up with the festival for all this time, as well as continuing her mission of spreading mental health awareness with her film A Story Woth Living the last few years, Vanessa earned a new award as well—that of “Most Dedicated.” I continue to be moved by her support and look forward to seeing what she does in the future.
November 12, 2:00-4:00 PM @ The edgewater library
Stay With Me (With Writer/Director Marty Lang)
We partnered with the Chicago Public Library’s Diversability Advocacy Committee once again for a screening, this time live and in person! Marty Lang, the writer and director of the moving independent feature Stay With Me, presented his film about a young woman living with an unspecified mental illness and her friend and boyfriend who must cope with the aftermath of her suicide loss.
Marty Lang is quite tall, and I know those library chairs must have been a bit uncomfortable for him. He still engaged in a spirited conversation with the audience about mental health advocacy and the making of the film.
Mental Filmness 2021
Second Virtual Festival
October 9, 7:00 p.m. – November 1, 7:00 p.m.
Goodnight Mr. Vincent Van Gogh is a short animated film explaining suicide to children, directed by suicide loss survivor Lindsey Doolitte and illustrated by survivors who have lost a loved one to suicide. Lindsey Doolittle joined us via Zoom at a Chicago Public Library virtual author event to discuss why some people get sick with colds and tummy flus, and some people get sick with sadness–and why people don’t want to talk about it.
Kagan Goh was not only kind enough to honor us with the U.S. premiere of his short film The Day My Cat Saved My Life, but he also engaged in a lively Zoom conversation about it and sent organizer Sharon Gissy a copy of his memoir Surviving Samsara, a gift from one bipolar creative to another.
We were incredibly lucky to engage in conversation with the inspiring and dynamic couple Issa Ibrahim & Susan Spangenberg, who have overcome mental health obstacles and hospitalization over the years to build a home together with shared art and cats. They share the story of their endurance in the documentary Mad Love.
Tunesmith and storyteller Damon Smith has a dual diagnosis of bipolar disorder and OCD, and he took his theatrical show on the road with his songwriting partner Adam Coad to explain to the world why talking about mental illness should be as easy as talking about a broken arm. Mental As Everything’s appealing blend of music, comedy, and personal narrative earned it an Audience Award, and Smith was gracious enough to participate in a candid interview with us across the monumental U.S.-Australia time zone gap.
Mental Filmness 2020
First Virtual Festival
October 10, 7:00 p.m. – November 1, 9:00 p.m.
Charles Crouch & Corbin Coleman of 4C Visuals Group gave an enlightening virtual conversation tackling the taboo subject of their documentary I’m Good Bro: Unmasking Black Male Depression.
Psychiatrist Melanie Ekholdt charmed the hearts and minds of our audience by sharing the story of her friendship with Michael Kildal, an adolescent who struggled with ADHD medication and substance use but found a release through his music. The film drew a runaway number of audience votes, winning it a Stigma Breaker award, and has gone on to play festivals around the world to international acclaim.
In Medicating & Healing self-described queer filmmaker Seamus Bestwick portrayed a gay interracial relationship on the brink of destruction due to one character’s spiraling schizophrenia. He captured the exhaustion of becoming your mentally ill partner’s caretaker so genuinely it earned him an Empathy Award.
Inaugural Festival
October 12-13, 4:00-10:00 P.M., 2019 @ COMFORT STATION
Kat Dolan, a performance poet, mental health advocate, and inspirational speaker, traveled from North Carolina to speak with us. We awarded her the Stigma Breaker award for her short film Nobody But Myself, a powerful visual love poem addressed to her depression.
Saturday, October 12, 2019 was the opening night of Mental Filmness at Comfort Station. It drew a good and appreciative crowd for a new festival. The opening short was the tense Australian film Call Connect, about a suicide hotline volunteer in training who unexpectedly takes her first call.
A glance at a unique historic venue–Comfort Station in Logan Square–and the opening night crowd. Organizer Sharon Gissy introduces the mission before screenings begin.