"I Hope This Helps" - a Global Mental Health Documentary
My name is Jack Arbuthnott, one of a team of filmmakers behind the LIFE IN A DAY series. Now, we’re inviting anyone, from anywhere in the world, to participate in “I HOPE THIS HELPS” - a radical crowd-sourced documentary about how we understand and manage our mental health.
We’re asking people to take part in two simple ways: either take us into your life, or share how you manage your mental health.
We don’t want to be prescriptive. We know that taking part in a project like this can be difficult - or perhaps simply not possible. But we also hope that it can be rewarding too. You’ll be joining a community of people who want to change the world through sharing their personal experience.
Here’s more guidance on how to share your story:
Leading up to this project, we researched the views of people with lived experience of mental health conditions all over the world, and two important themes have emerged:
A plea for more understanding, for more empathy.
A generosity to share a story, if it will help someone else.
There were also repeated warnings about the pervasive force of stigma that is holding progress back.
Our dream is that the film highlights and celebrates, tenderly and with dignity, that which would otherwise be experienced silently and privately, so that we can support an irresistible cultural swell of recognition, compassion and connection.
“For ten years I’ve been involved in this strange form of filmmaking, and the power of each film has always been the same: to create connection from ordinary human experience. ”
We have no idea what this film will actually be like, which is both scary and exciting. It will emerge from the snapshots of life that are shared with us. Whatever the film becomes, as a global portrait of lived experience, we believe it can act as an irrefutable rallying cry for a different future.
The project is supported by Wellcome Trust as part of Mindscapes, an international cultural programme that aims to transform how we talk about, understand and address mental health.
We’re working with mental health organisations, filmmakers, content creators and social media users around the world to gather video contributions. The impact of the final film will very much depend on the breadth, diversity, and creativity of the people that contribute.
We believe this film can be a powerful resource to support the awareness and advocacy work of others. To this end, we are very keen to work with any organisations who share our purpose and can help shape the film, ensuring it supports mental health campaigners around the world.
If you’re interested in getting involved, sharing this opportunity, and becoming part of a network of partners who stays closely up to date with the project as it progresses, please email us at hello@ihopethishelpsfilm.com. We will share the partner toolkit with you before the campaign to gather footage launches on 17 April.
For further info see www.ihopethishelpsfilm.com
Written by Jack Arbuthnott
Filmmaker