The SOAS Students’ Union, in partnership with Kaleidoscope Health & Care, are putting together a Student Mental Health Festival. Kaleidoscope is a social enterprise that works with others to build a future that is kind, connected and joyful. In line with their mission, they have launched their Perspectives Programme which aims to hear from unheard voices in the context of health and care. These voices are not only important to better understand their needs within healthcare but they also give people the opportunity to feel heard. As part of this programme, they propose to create a Student Mental Health Film Festival event in partnership with SOAS Students’ Union.  

What’s the aim of the event? 

This main aim of this event is to bridge the disconnect between student lived experiences with mental health services at university. We believe the arts are a great way to tell stories and share lived experiences, and film is an interesting discipline through which to explore such matters.

Its objectives would be for: 

• Students to express their views on mental health issues, their own experiences and the mental health services that are available to them.
• Students to communicate their views to university mental health services.
• University mental health services to listen and talk about students’ experiences and views on mental health.

What’s the approach to the film festival?

We propose that three groups of four students each create a film on their experiences and views on mental health issues and mental health services. These three films will be screened at a film screening event organised and led by students. After the screenings, a panel discussion will take place for each film discussing its content, the issues it touches upon and possible solutions to those. Panelists will include the student filmmakers and representatives of university mental health services, as well as experts from other organisations that the students feel inspired by. These panelists will discuss the content of the films to bridge the gap between the experiences of students and the mental health services they use. The event will take place at the end of Term 2, in the second half of the month of March. 

After the project finishes, Kaleidoscope will ask students to conduct a survey of feedback of the event. They will also post videos of student films on Kaleidoscope’s youtube channel and embed them on their website, although all rights will be reserved for the filmmakers.

What kind of films will we be making?

For each group, students will choose a mental health issue that they would like to create a film about. However, in order to produce that film, the following criteria should be satisfied: 

• Lived experiences with the chosen mental health issue topic.
• Factors that students feel contribute to the mental health issue.
• Experiences and views of mental health services relating to this issue.
• How students would like to see those mental health services improve.

Examples of film topics include, but are not limited to, issues such as depression, anxiety, stress and burnout, eating disorders, loneliness, etc. These can also come from and centre on specific communities such as people of colour, LGBTQ+, women, international students, etc.

What support will I receive throughout the project? 

After being selected, three groups of four students will be created based on the topics students would like to explore. They will then put together a plan of their (maximum) ten-minute films and send them to Kaleidoscope, who will review these plans and give suggestions to students.

The films will be recorded on their smartphones. Students will attend three workshops on smartphone filmmaking, run by filmmaker Cassius Rayner, to support their film production and gain skills in smartphone filmmaking:

• One 4 hour workshop on Introduction to smartphone filmmaking on 13th February 2020 from 1pm to 5pm at SOAS.
• One 4 hour workshop on Smartphone filmmaking production on 20th February 2020 from 1pm to 5pm at SOAS.
• One 4 hour workshop on Smartphone filmmaking production and support for students’ films production on 26th February 2020 from 1pm to 5pm at SOAS.

What do I need to get involved?

In order to get involved, you need to be a current SOAS student. Ideally, you would have an interest in mental health and will want to actively engage in the co-production of these films. You would be willing to share your thoughts, interests and lived experiences of mental health in order to create a short film and then present it to other SOAS students and the wider community. You will need to be available for the workshop session on the 13th, 20th and 26th of February. You will also be willing to help organise the film festival in which the screenings and panel discussions will take place at the end of Term 2.

How do I get involved?

To get involved, please fill out the application form at by 10am on Monday 3rd February 2020. Link: https://forms.gle/3XtDcYas28mAiKXJA 

Any more questions/comments suggestions?

Please get in touch with Valeria, our Co-President for Welfare & Campaigns. You can email her on welfare.campaigns@soas.ac.uk or drop by the office in G8.