Go Mental! 2021
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In its first year, the Go Mental! International Short Film Festival took place from May 26th to the 30th, 2021.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the festival was available entirely online on Vimeo.
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10% of all revenues have been donated to Mental Health Initiative: a social impact non-profit startup that has been founded by Dr. Joachim Hein in 2020 at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization makes it its mission to strengthen mental health, prevent suicides and attempted suicides as well as contributing to ending the societal stigma on mental health. They are also having an incredible prevention program for teenagers in the works called Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM). Scientific studies show that YAM helped reduce attempted suicides by 50% and new cases of depression by 30%. For more info check out their website mental-health-initiative.org/ .
FESTIVAL STREAM PART 1
SKÓGAFOSS
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Niels Bourgonje
Country of Origin: Netherlands
Runtime: 10:00 min
Mental Health Topic: Parent-Child-Relationships
While on vacation with his girlfriend, Gijs receives a phone call from his mother that reveals her troubled mental state and their complex relationship.
OFF-WHITE
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Jesús Noa
Country of Origin: Spain
Runtime: 8:52 min
Mental Health Topic: Grief & Death
Carmen takes care of her sick terminal mother and receives a visit from her sister.
EMPATHY
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Lea Bouchal
Country of Origin: Austria
Runtime: 11:26 min
Mental Health Topic: Depression / Existentialism
The short film EMPATHY encourages the viewers to gain awareness towards those who struggle with mental health problems. The film shows how living with depression can be.
LETTERS: the art of grieving
SHORT FILM DOCUMENTARY
Directed by Nich Perez
Country of Origin: United States
Runtime: 20:00 min
Mental Health Topic: Grief & Death
An intimate cinematic meditation on the creativity that intertwines with the lives of three women: a poet and fiber artist who lost her husband to Alzheimer's disease, an artist whose 9-week-old son died unexpectedly, and a young painter who lost her mother to brain cancer.
ROSE AND BLUE
SHORT FILM MUSIC VIDEO
Directed by Julie Boehm
Country of Origin: Germany
Runtime: 5:00 min
Mental Health Topic: Grief & Death
The farewell of a balloon from the earth to the pink blue universe.
SOLUTION FOR SADNESS
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Marc Martínez Jordán, Tuixén Benet
Country of Origin: Spain
Runtime: 15:00 min
Mental Health Topic: Depression / Existentialism
A mysterious package offers a woman a reprieve from her melancholy, only its results are more permanent and pervasive then she realizes.
TOKE
SHORT FILM DOCUMENTARY
Directed by NONO
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Runtime: 6:42 min.
Mental Health Topic: Mental Health & Stigma
Set in the urban metropolis of London, TOKE, is an intimate portrait of Danish-born dancer Toke Broni Strandby. Director NONO expertly visualizes the emotionally layered journey we endure to fulfill our dreams while exploring themes of identity, contemporary alienation, and acceptance.
IN MEDIAS RUSH
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Esben Persson
Country of Origin: Denmark
Runtime: 15:10 min
Mental Health Topic: Mania
IN MEDIAS RUSH is a journey into the depths of a manic mind. A young man celebrates his birthday while thoughts are multiplying. With an unwilling foot on the accelerator he is heading over the edge.
DEEPER THAN BLUE
SHORT FILM DOCUMENTARY
Directed by Devon Robertson
Country of Origin: Canada
Runtime: 8:00 min.
Mental Health Topic: Depression / Existentialism
DEEPER THAN BLUE explores a shadowed medical crisis called postpartum depression that affects mothers. Told through Amanda Munday; her heartbreaking and empowering story of her experience with postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter Fiona.
I AM A VERY SPECIAL BEING
SHORT FILM MUSIC VIDEO
Directed by Marcus Mandal
Country of Origin: Denmark
Runtime: 3:46 min
Mental Health Topic: Autism
40-year-old Christian is diagnosed with autism. He wrote the lyrics for this song about who he is - and he sings it himself.
THE CITY OF HONEY
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Moein Ruholamini
Country of Origin: Iran
Runtime: 7:30 min
Mental Health Topic: Trauma
A short film on the difficult psychological intricacies children go through in times of war and civil unrest.
UMBRELLA
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Ben Apolloni
Country of Origin: Kosovo
Runtime: 19:13 min
Mental Health Topic: Trauma / PTSD
UMBRELLA is about the drama of the relatives of the missing several years after the end of the war. It talks about the life of a woman who, during the war, when she had just gotten married, was taken from her husband whose fate is still unknown.
DRIFTED AWAY
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Ricardo Alfonso Lopéz
Country of Origin: Chile
Runtime: 8:00 min.
Mental Health Topic: Relationships / Parents & Children
Marcela is a child that wakes up faded inside an unknown house. She's in care of Angela, who is fighting for her custody against Matías, a man that reminds Marcela of good feelings. She asks for her mother without results, and then she is going to discover a secret.
FESTIVAL STREAM PART 2
STAY HOME, STAY SAFE, STAY SANE?
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Nick Hales
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Runtime: 3:05 min
Mental Health Topic: Depression / Existentialism
The slow decline of a worker over lockdown. A story that may, or may not echo my own days of the Covid pandemic in front of the computer screen.
ATTESOR
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Mohammad Jeddi
Country of Origin: Italy
Runtime: 14:59 min.
Mental Health Topic: Relationships / Parents & Children
Rosetta lives with her father Giulio who suffers from Alzheimer's. Giulio, now at an advanced stage of the disease, begins to mistake Rosetta for his dead wife named Maria, revealing something of his past that he had kept hidden from her.
IRIS
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Raphael Lopez, Quentin Caffier
Country of Origin: France
Runtime: 15:00 min
Mental Health Topic: Body Image / Eating Disorder
Iris, a young model, has an important casting in town that can bring her to the Paris Fashion Week. As she wakes up in an old motel lost in the karoo, she needs to reach Cape Town and meets Genesis, a Xhosa man driving an old car.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BOY
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Niklas Bauer
Country of Origin: Germany
Runtime: 14:24 min
Mental Health Topic: Autism
Autistic boy Daan has a unique perspective on the world. His little sister Millie struggles with his sometimes strange behaviour and the lack of attention she gets from their single mother. When Daan accidentally kills her pet bird, emotions overflow - will Millie be able to be therefor her brother despite it all?
ECHO
SHORT FILM DOCUMENTARY
Directed by Lieke Bezemer
Country of Origin: Netherlands
Runtime: 6:17 min.
Mental Health Topic: Trauma / Abuse
ECHO portrays a mysteriously frozen world, consisting of empty landscapes, lonely trees,
mythological creatures and an abandoned home. A world which, at first glance, seems
similar to the world we all share together - yet feels uncanny.
SEA GIRLS_DO YOU REALLY WANNA KNOW?
SHORT FILM MUSIC VIDEO
Directed by Francesca de Bassa
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Runtime: 2:56 min.
Mental Health Topic: Personal Change & Growth
DO YOU REALLY WANNA KNOW? is a song talking about mental health. The singer and songwriter made the song to bring awareness to the topic of going through very tough moments in life. Together we created the concept of this music video where we find
characters that keep on changing throughout the song. None is a single shape easy to describe but we all change thanks to the experiences we live.
SOUL
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Mónica Santos
Country of Origin: Portugal
Runtime: 7:53 min.
Mental Health Topic: Self-Worth
A poetic expedition, where a wanderer looks for her soul mate, solely to find it close to her
PSYCHIATRIST AS PATIENT: CARING FOR THE CAREGIVER
SHORT FILM DOCUMENTARY
Directed by Stephanie Choriatis
Country of Origin: United States
Runtime: 11:28 min
Mental Health Topic: Bipolar Personality Disorder
PSYCHIATRIST AS PATIENT: CARING FOR THE CAREGIVER is a riveting story that sheds light on one doctor’s mental health journey from secrecy and sickness to health and hope.
SINCERELY, ANTHONY
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Max Shoham
Country of Origin: Canada
Runtime: 1:09 min.
Mental Health Topic: Suicide
Everyone deals with the suicide of a friend differently.This film is an exploration of the acceptance of a best friend's death through an imagined letter left behind.
THE PITMAN
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Neda Haji Mirzaei
Country of Origin: Iran
Runtime: 9:46 min.
Mental Health Topic: Grief & Death
After his mother’s funeral, a boy tries to cope with the aftermath of the burial in becoming a pitman himself.
GO MAKE MEMORIES
SHORT FILM DOCUMENTARY
Directed by Carl Mason
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Runtime: 13:24 min
Mental Health Topic: Relationships / Parents & Children
GO MAKE MEMORIES is a short film which hopes to raise awareness of the ultra-rare and devastating group of genetic conditions, Niemann-Pick disease (NPD). The experiences of the individuals and families affected by NPD takes centre stage in this production.
GOOD THANKS, YOU?
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by Molly Manning Walker
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Runtime: 13:15 min.
Mental Health Topic: Trauma / Abuse
GEO-BLOCKED | FOR GERMAN AUDIENCE ONLY
In the aftermath of an attack, Amy is left voiceless,trapped in a whirlwind of incompetence. She must finda way to confront what has happened, in order to savewhat matters to her most.
SEVEN CENTIMETERS FROM MYSELF
SHORT FILM NARRATIVE
Directed by K Rajagopal, Sharda Harrison
Country of Origin: Singapore
Runtime: 20:00 min.
Mental Health Topic: Bipolar Disorder
SEVEN CENTIMETERS FROM MYSELF is about two friends reconnecting after several years through a phone conversation to talk about their mental health conditions.
THE JURY OF 2021
Dr. Julia Effertz
Intimacy Coordination
Screenwriter & Actress
Dr. Julia Effertz is an award-winning actress, screenwriter, and Germany’s first Intimacy Coordinator.
She trained under British intimacy coordinator pioneer Ita O’Brien, whose productions include “Sex Education” (Netflix), “I may destroy you” (HBO), “Gentleman Jack” (BBC), “Normal People” (Hulu) and “Brave New World” (Peacock). Adding the US perspective and expertise to her toolbox, Julia is currently also in training with and under mentorship of leading Los Angeles IC Amanda Blumenthal (IPA).
Following her acting training in Paris and London, and a PhD in Oxford, Julia worked in UK theatre, where she was nominated for the Off West End Award 2011 as Best Lead Actress. She moved to Berlin in 2012 and has since been working extensively for German film and television.
As a screenwriter, Julia was nominated for the Funny Women Award 2018, and was a Scriptpool finalist at the 2019 Tallinn Black Nights Festival.
A versatile movement specialist as well as prolific actress, Julia infuses her creative work with her extensive background as a trained dancer and experienced martial artist (Boxing, Muay Thai).
For more info go visit: juliaeffertz.com
Lily Peppou
Psychologist with an MSc in Psychatric Epidemiology
Some of you may recognize her from our Live Talk on schizophrenia in film where Lily spoke out on the topics of institutionalization, stigma and treatment. Not only is she an experienced psychiatrist for many years, she is also an inspiring person all-around as well as an advocate for breaking the stigma on mental health even within the community of psychiatrists. She is currently working toward her PhD. Furthermore, she is the coordinator of the unit of social psychiatry and psychosocial care at the University’s mental health, neurosciences and precision medicine research institute "Costas Stefanis" and a scientific collaborator of the first department of psychiatry at the University of Athens.
Alex Depew
Director of Photography & Gaffer
He has worked on short films, documentaries, music videos, and commercials on sets both large and small and in various roles over 15 years. He is in his happy place on set, when working on the lighting or camerawork, either by planning it, or executing it with his team. He strives to find the right mood, meaning, and camera and lighting language that fit the subject which he is filming and loves to work on all kinds of different projects.
He also has a soft spot for short films, helping people make connections, and teaching. He is the leader of the Berlin Film Community, a group with several hundred local members and over 10,000 members online. Alex has hosted twice monthly short film nights for about 2 years, showcasing films from around the world as well as highlighting local filmmakers in Q&A sessions. He also hosts the Pitch and Planning Session which is a monthly meeting that lets people who are looking to make a film interact and pitch their idea to people who are eager to help make their film a reality. He feels very proud that he has played a part in helping these films to get made.
Neven Pilipovic
Actor
Neven had his debut in 2017 and 2018 on German and French television on ARTE and on the ARD program; continuing later with an appearance on Netflix. In the fictional documentary drama, “The Slavs – Our Mysterious Ancestors” French: “Les Slavs”, he was seen in the lead role of Boleslav, the Great. The show broadcasted on ARTE, ARD, MDR, and RBB.
On top of his acting education, he has two academic degrees. His qualitative behavioral sciences research dedicates to analyzing patterns of psychological violence, especially tackling cyberbullying and cybercrime phenomena. His latest endeavor is his master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
In 2018 he worked with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) within THE PACT program. Their goal was to execute the design and creation of a digital platform for HIV prevention called Uproot. Furthermore, his international experience goes from Sweden to Nicaragua, where he lived for a while and worked on welfare support. In Nicaragua, in 2015/2016, he worked with the NGO “Innerchange WORKS,” an organization which works to maintain and develop a children’s theatre project in Managua’s Acahualinca.
Lastly, Neven has a big heart for people in socio-economic disadvantaged life situations. Therefore, he dedicates his life dominantly to the prevention of violence. Next to his scientific research programs, he is leading a group called STOP Cybermobbing/Cyberbullying. Also, he assisted the coordination of a three years EU ERASMUS+ Project with the focus on international exchange and social topics within European countries.
Lisa Bonifacie
Photographer & MIS
Just like us, Lisa shares the values of breaking the stigma on mental health and to create spaces of conversation in which empathy and understanding can be fostered.
She holds a master’s degree in cultural studies from the @sorbonne_univ and has put her main focus on the visual arts.
Furthermore, feminism has been an area of focus in her work for many years as well which she has shown in her thesis on the feminist art movement of the 1970s.
She is also a photographer and currently working at a contemporary art gallery in Paris.
Mirjam Römer
MSc
She has been supporting our festival from the get go and was our first guest in our live talk series.
Mirjam is based in Berlin and majored last year in Psychology. She studied in the Netherlands and her master’s program focused on clinical and positive psychology. Even her professors used the medium of film to demonstrate complex psychological theories or visualize mental illnesses. This made her realize the major impact of films on the understanding and acceptance of mental illnesses in our society in a positive as well as a negative way.
During and after her studies she was able to gain some practical insights into personality disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and currently, she is working as a therapist for children in the Autism spectrum in Berlin.
