Spanish short wins first prize in film festival held by Schizophrenia Research Foundation
The Hindu
The 10th edition of Frame of Mind, a film festival on mental health, came to a close on Friday
Te Recuerdo (I remember you), a Spanish short film on an age-related memory disorder by Jeronimo Calero Gonzales, won the first prize at the 10 th edition of Frame of Mind, a film festival on mental health organised by the Schizophrenia Research Foundation, India (SCARF).
Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, film director, awarded the prize at the valedictory function of the festival on Friday in the city. Thirteen short films from across the world were shortlisted out of over 50 entries. The themes of this year’s film festival were ‘physical health and mental wellness’ and ‘relationships and mental health’.
The second prize was awarded to Phone Call by Direk Bee-Cebu, Phillipines, and two films – Smile by Abhi Krishna, Kerala, and Laura by Paulina Torres, Argentina – shared the third spot. Jury members included Frame of Mind chairperson Mitchel Weiss; psychiatrist Thara; director Shreedhar Rajan; freelance journalist S. Chandramouli; actor and director Lakshmy Ramakrishnan; and film producer Adithi.
The award function was preceded by a screening of the 13 shortlisted short films and a panel discussion on Paper Rocket, a Tamil web-series directed by Ms. Udhayanidhi. The series, which follows six people with mental health issues, was lauded by Ms. Ramakrishnan for its subtle depiction of a sensitive topic.
Pointing out that certain specificity around mental health were trivialised, N. Rangarajan, psychiatrist, said the characters in the film could not be compared to patients who visit psychiatry centres. He also cautioned against interpreting others’ trauma. “The message I will take from Paper Rocket is that it is okay to have mental health issues and talk about them,” R. Mangala, psychiatrist, SCARF, said. However, the series had few technical issues from a mental health perspective, she added.