Mental Health Film Festival Singapore 2023 to be held Nov 3-12; features 7 international films, 20 local youth films
The festival is supported by 20 organisations, including nonprofits like The Majurity Trust and Mindset.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mental Health Film Festival aims for attendees to “[reconnect] with the self” in its fourth edition titled Present, Continuous.
The festival, which will be held at Leisure Park Kallang and The Projector, features 27 films of both local and international origin.
It will spotlight films that explore the complications of mental health, and is supported by 20 organisations, including the National Youth Council, The Majurity Trust, Mindset, and Jardines.
Of the films screened across the event, 20 are winners of the Short Film Youth Competition. The competition challenged local youths to produce films under the themes Coping through Creative Expressions, Resilience and Recovery, Suicide Prevention and Workplace Mental Health.
MHFF will also screen 7 acclaimed international works alongside the local short films:
Break the Game (2023)
Break the Game is an M18 documentary film that stars Narcissa Wright. The streamer attained Internet fame in 2014 for beating The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 18 minutes and 10 seconds, instead of the expected 20 hours of game time.
Her career is jeopardised by “an obsessive group of haters” following her coming out as a transgender woman. Despite this, she finds a new goal when the first completely open-world Zelda instalment drops: to set a new speedrunning world record.
According to the documentary’s creators, the film explores “themes of community, identity, and love in the digital age”, as well as online harassment and its effects on mental health.
Break the Game will be screened on Nov 12 at 2pm at The Projector Redrum. It just may, in Princess Zelda’s own words, “Open your eyes.”
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021)
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a PG stop-motion animated mockumentary about a little shell with one eye looking for his loved ones following a “mysterious exodus”.
Despite its whimsical outlook, the film covers deeper themes of community, difficult family situations, and the power of an individual’s impact.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On totters his way into audiences’ hearts on Nov 4 and 11 at 7pm at Leisure Park Kallang.
A Still Small Voice (2023)
The PG13 documentary A Still Small Voice follows an aspiring chaplain in a hospital residency who learns that to take care of others, she must first take care of herself. Throughout the film, she battles “burnout and the complications of mourning.”
A Still Small Voice calls out to attendees on Nov 8 at 2pm. It will be screened at Leisure Park Kallang.
The Taste of Mango (2023)
The Taste of Mango, its director’s PG13 debut feature, involves non-fiction retellings of the lives of a trio of women: the director, her mother, Rozana; and her grandmother, Jean. In its ruminations on their lived experiences, the film explores how inheritance affects human relationships.
It is “an urgently personal meditation on family, memory, identity, violence, and love.”
Follow this family’s journey at its 7pm screening on Nov 8 at The Projector Redrum.
On The Adamant, ‘Sur l’Adamant’ (2023)
PG film Sur l’Adamant offers an “intimate and tender look” into the lives of mental health patients living in The Adamant, a floating daycare centre in Paris. It follows their experience using various art forms to heal themselves and express their emotions.
The film will be presented on Nov 4 and 12 at 2pm at Leisure Park Kallang.
Isadora’s Children, ‘Les enfants d’Isadora’ (2019)
Delving further into the themes of self-expression to cope with mental health issues, PG film Les enfants d’Isadora follows the impact of Isadora Duncan, who lost her two children and created a farewell dance solo titled The Mother.
The film “explores the body as a canvas for grief’s complexity” and the power of art in helping people cope with life’s difficulties.
Les enfants d’Isadora will be screened at 7pm on Nov 5 at Leisure Park Kallang.
Next Sohee, ‘다음 소희‘ (2022)
In line with the theme of mental well-being and suicide prevention, PG13 short film Next Sohee offers a poignant look into the life and death of a young girl, Sohee.
The film follows a detective’s investigation into her plight during her externship at a call centre. It explores “the profound toll of a demanding system on young lives”, and the suffering of youths and the marginalised.
Next Sohee will be presented in Korean with English subtitles.
It will be screened at Leisure Park Kallang on Nov 5 and 12 at 7pm.
More information about the 7 featured films can be found at the Mental Health Film Festival’s website.
Registration details
Admission to the Mental Health Film Festival’s Singaporean run costs $15 for a Standard Film. A 20 per cent early bird discount is available through Internet, mobile, hotline and authorised agents until Oct 13.
From Oct 14 onwards, when public sales open, tickets for films from the Short Film Youth Competition can be purchased for $10.
Tickets can be purchased on Sistic’s website.
Leisure Park Kallang is located at 5 Stadium Walk, Singapore 397693.
The Projector Redrum is located at 6001 Beach Rd, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower, Singapore 199589.
If you are looking for mental well-being resources, check out Youthopia’s resource page with everything from mental health self-assessments to tips for coping with challenging seasons in life.
Other helplines you may find useful:
- National Care Healthline: 1800-200-6868
- TOUCHline: 1800-377-2252
- Mindline SG: https://mindline.sg/
- Limitless: www.limitless.sg/talk
- Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT): 6493-6500/6501
- Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019
- Samaritans of Singapore (24-hour hotline): 1800-221-4444
