The Scottish Mental Health and Arts Film Festival (SMHAFF) returns for an eighth year, running from 1 – 19 of October. With over 300 events around Scotland, the festival celebrates the artistic achievements of people with experience of mental health issues. The theme for this year is power.

Ana Ana – a UK premiere in our core film programme C Petr Lom, Corinne van Egeraat

Including theatre, film, literature and music, this year’s festival will kick off with all-day event Moving Minds, followed in short succession by three UK film premieres. One of the premieres is Ana Ana, a cinematic poem following four young Egyptian women struggling to make sense of their post-Arab Spring world through filmmaking.

In the Theatre programme, see Emma Jayne Park’s tour Status Anxiety & Thinking in the First Person featuring a hip hop performance exploring who we become when hidden behind a computer screen. This year, the festival will also host its very first International Writing Awards with Bipolar Scotland. Learn the power of the writing process for the understanding of and recovery from mental ill health. Finally, don’t miss the extensive music programme which includes the release of Withered Hand’s new Scottish indie rock album ‘New Gods.’

Status Anxiety & Thinking in the first person C Maria Falconer

Watch the trailer for the upcoming festival here:

To find out more about the programme, see the SMHAFF website.

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