In the lead-up to the annual Bell Let’s Talk Day on January 28, we’re showcasing free docs-and-conversations about mental health and mental illness in partnership with Bell Let’s Talk and Hot Docs.

As part of this free film series, join us on Bell Let’s Talk Day, January 28, for a live panel discussion about youth mental health, a main theme portrayed in Connecting the Dots. Youth mental health is a timely and important topic as today’s youth face unique and unprecedented challenges, including those brought on by the ongoing pandemic. Join a group of special guests and experts for an insightful discussion on the experiences and factors affecting the mental health and the well-being of young people everywhere—and what we can do to respond to this unfolding crisis.

Featured panelists include:

Army Alam, an advisor for Bell Let’s Talk, the Board Director of the Mental Health Commission of Canada and co-founder of the Canadian Peer Support Network

Lindsay Currie, a registered nurse and youth mental health advocate with Jack.org from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Angel Richards, a 19-year-old singer-songwriter from Ajax, ON, Canada who uses her music as a way to escape, heal, and inspire others.

Click here to view the films available for streaming.

In the lead-up to the annual Bell Let’s Talk Day on January 28, we’re showcasing free docs-and-conversations about mental health and mental illness in partnership with Bell Let’s Talk and Hot Docs.

Films will be available to stream from January 4-28 and culminate in a live virtual panel discussion with special guests on January 28. Tickets for all films and the panel discussion are free, and can be booked through the Hot Docs Box Office.

The first documentary of its kind, Connecting the Dots takes on the subject of mental health through the voices of young people around the world. From Edmonton and New York to Nigeria and Australia, young people talk openly about their experiences in a way you have never seen or heard before. At a time when youth are facing increased anxiety and depression—on top of unrest surrounding systemic racism, sexual orientation, and gender discrimination—it’s more important than ever to stop and listen. Intimate and heartfelt, the film brings this crisis to the surface, while shedding light on the inspiring ways we can break through barriers and take action.

Followed by a recorded Q&A with award-winning director Noemi Weis.

This film may include content that is triggering for some viewers. It contains depictions of young adults experiencing distress related to mental illness, including talk of self-harm and suicide. It may be particularly difficult for young or sensitive viewers.
Watch the film with someone you trust, watch until the end to take away messages of hope, take time to debrief afterwards, and if you need help, reach out.

There are many things you can do to stay well during these challenging times – like trying to eat and sleep regularly, getting active doing things you like to do, spending time outdoors, paying attention to calm breathing and mindful moments, making connections with your faith or culture, and spending time with people who make you smile.

The following organizations can provide free mental health support 24/7:
Kids Help Phone | Call 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT 686868
Wellness Together Canada | Visit ca.portal.gs or text WELLNESS to 686868. Adults can text WELLNESS to 741741
Indigenous Canadians can also reach out to Hope for Wellness at 1-855-242-3310
Black Youth Helpline | Call 416-285-9944, toll-free 1-833-294-8650 (every day 9 am to 10 pm ET)
If you are in crisis, please contact your local crisis center by calling 1-833-456-4566 toll-free (In QC: 1-866-277-3553) or visit www.crisisservicescanada.ca
You can also access Kids Help Phone Resources Around Me to find local resources: https://apps.kidshelpphone.ca/resourcesaroundme/welcome.html

For the fourth consecutive year, If You Ask Me (IYAM) has supported emerging filmmakers with mental health and/or addiction experiences to create new work. This year’s program features eight shorts by filmmakers across Canada: Malaika Athar, Hanna Donato, Manvinder Gill, Kitoko Kasiama, Jae Lew, Claudia Liz, Samyuktha Movva and Shubhi Sahni.

These new films were developed in summer 2020 under the guidance of Gillian Muller and IYAM alumni and mentors Saba Akhtar, Erum Khan and James Knott. Over three months, filmmakers deepened their knowledge of film in the company of peers and industry guests. Rendezvous is excited to screen these distinctly personal works created during an unprecedented time.

Rendezvous would like to thank the following workshop guests: Linsey Stewart, Dane Clark, Kelly Fyffe Marshall, Carine Zahner, Ashley Iris Gill, Marcus Armstrong and Gagan Singh.

This program was made in partnership with BIPOC TV and Film and Trinity Square Video.

Plus a special screening of youth film competition winner from 2020 Singapore Mental Health Film Festival: 

When Mirrors Had Meaning
Yuga J. Vardhan | 2020 | Singapore | Hindi and English with English subtitles | 10 minutes

When Mirrors Had Meaning presents the searing experience of 70-year-old Krishnan, as he sets off on a journey in search of a distant memory, leaving behind a letter to his family. 

Courtesy Singapore Mental Health Film Festival (smhff.com)

The world changed dramatically between the initial planning of IYAM 2020 and now. This year’s cohort of filmmakers pivoted their practices to adapt to ever-changing conditions. Join the Q + A session to learn how recent events informed the production of their films and hear their predictions on how this time will shape the future of film.

Veins of the World is a wondrous coming of age tale that describes living in harmony with nature and the financial instabilities of maintaining the traditions of nomadic people. Amra is 11 years old — and suffers from an eye condition that will blind him in the near future. Growing up in the Mongolian steppe (itself a co-star of this gorgeous landscape film), Amra’s father Erdene is the local leader opposing global companies’ mining and gold extraction. Without intervention, his father’s workshop will soon close, yet despite these challenges Amra still dreams of someday singing on television in Mongolia’s Got Talent. However, the fight against resource exploitation in an unstable environment quickly challenges the young boy’s electric talents. Director Byambasuren Davaa’s (The Story of the Weeping Camel) first fiction feature premiered at the Berlin Film Festival then screened at the Marché du Film Online in Cannes and is a captivating story about family and community challenging the constant march of capitalism and environmental exploitation.

Screening with 

Blues Side on the Blue Sky
Rachmat Hidayat Mustamin | 2018 | Indonesia | Indonesian with English subtitles | 15 minutes

In a manifestation of visual poetry, Blues Side on The Blue Sky tells the story of a mother who tries to save her daughter.

Join us for a virtual panel with Leah Gardner from JCAP, Jamie Kneen from Mining Watch Canada and Rachel Small from Mining Injustice Solidarity Network.

Get Mad: IYAM shorts

For the third consecutive year, If You Ask Me (IYAM) has supported emerging filmmakers with mental health and/or addiction experiences to create new work. This constantly evolving program has grown to follow the needs of the filmmakers and RWM is very excited to be showing four new short films in 2019 by Saba Akhtar, Julianne Ess, Erum Khan and James Knott.

These filmmakers have worked under the guidance of mentor Fallon Andy and have been working at Trinity Square Video over the summer months to develop new short films. Each year these artists have been commissioned to create longer works to be shared in the festival and next year they will graduate into becoming mentors for a new generation of filmmakers looking to share their mental health stories through film.

This program is also being offered in conjunction with a Paprika Theatre Festival writing workshop.

For info and sign up, visit here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/paprika-workshop-bringing-your-authentic-self-to-your-writing-tickets-73823105897

1-on-1 advice for Young Filmmakers & Professionals 

The IYAM participants are emerging arts leaders who are interested in giving back to their communities. Join the artists as they engage in intimate conversations along with representatives from professional film making and theatre organizations as they offer advice, talk through ideas, give feedback and, most importantly, meet other young creators who are looking to share their stories!

With support from CAMH’s Youth Engagement Initiative and the National Youth Action Council

Hair is just keratin protein and dead skin cells. Yet beauty standards today and historically have made hair and its appearance a signifier of status. When you are dissatisfied with the state of your hair, each hair care advertisement is a microaggression advocating anything but otherness.

Foxy is a spunky film that debunks the social stigma surrounding alopecia universalis by interweaving a scripted memoir of director Trista Suke’s personal story with direct-to-camera interviews highlighting people from the community who are also living with hair loss. In flirty fashion, the fictional character Penny Todd tracks a journey of ultimate self acceptance and what it’s like to live as a beautifully bald woman.

Screening with

Consent Is… The Freedom to Choose
Lucy Drumonde | 2019 | Canada | 1 min | Canadian Premiere

In public or private the ethics of informed consent acknowledges the human right to choose.

Isolation by Ann Bekooy
Ann Bekooy | 2019 | Canada | 8 mins | Toronto Premiere

Through a dreamscape of surreal images, artist Ann Bekooy poetically narrates the universal but somehow alienating condition of existence.

Animating Artists’ Health (Shorts Program)
Canada | 19 mins

Animating Artists’ Health features short animations exploring artists’ health and wellbeing. This program is a product of Artist Health Alliance’s Creating Artists’ Health initiative. Featuring shorts by M.C Cruz, Shelton Deverell, Nikole Hidalgo McGregor, Ess Joelle Okemow, Raoul Olou, David Rendall, and Tommy Truong.

Animating Artists’ Health is co-presented with Toronto Animation Society, OCAD Art & Social Change, and OCAD Health and Wellness Centre. 

Sharing your story through film

We will be welcoming the range of filmmakers who are showing work as part of this screening to celebrate and reflect on the power of sharing their stories through film. What is it about the medium of film that has called each of these artists to create these works and how has it empowered them to reveal their vulnerable depths to themselves, audiences and each other?