Submissions are now open for our international film competition for 2023, which takes place as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF).
UPDATE: The competition has been postponed and will reopen later this year.
SMHAF is our annual festival that explores how engaging with the arts can help prevent and improve mental ill health.
Now in its 17th year, SMHAF calls on filmmakers to submit films addressing mental health and the various ways this can be understood or reflected. SMHAF is renowned for championing work by filmmakers with lived experience of mental health problems, exploring how film can challenge stigma and perceptions and raising awareness about the links between inequalities and mental health.
We invite films that draw attention to personal stories and raise awareness about specific mental health problems, but we also welcome innovative and diverse perspectives on mental health and wellbeing. Films produced in collaboration with communities affected by mental health problems and by first-time or aspiring filmmakers are also welcome.
Previous award winners include: Too Rough (Sean Lìonadh, 2022), Judy Versus Capitalism (Mike Hoolboom, 2020), That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore (Hannah Currie, 2019), Evelyn (Orlando Von Einsiedel, 2018), Irene’s Ghost (Iain Cunningham, 2018), Summer, 1993 (Carla Simón, 2017), Becoming Cary Grant (Mark Kidel, 2017) and A Family Affair (Tom Fassaert, 2015).
All award-winning films will be screened at the festival in Glasgow in May 2023, alongside a curated selection from the submission. Submissions should be made through our FilmFreeway page.
Update: The film competition has been postponed and will reopen later this year.
Please also help us to spread the word about the competition, you can follow us on social media Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
If you wish to ask us any questions about the submission process, request a waiver code, or if would like to discuss anything else relating to the film competition, you can email us at [email protected] .
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Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF)
The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF) is an internationally respected annual programme to support the arts, explore how engagement in the arts can help prevent mental ill-health and challenge preconceived ideas about mental health.
Explore the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival Website
Find out more about SMHAF and the events that ran during the 2022 programme.