A brand new festival launched by an Irish charity in the UK hopes to open up the conversation about mental health in London through the prism of film and the creative arts
SHOUT LONDON: The Ashford Place Mental Health Film and Arts Festival was born from an idea by Carey Fitzgerald, Managing Director of Silver Mountain Productions, whose years of involvement with Ashford Place motivated her to find ways to combine her own industry expertise with the charity’s pioneering work Working to support the most marginalized and vulnerable in society.
Ashford Place CEO Danny Maher, who worked closely with Ms Fitzgerald on the development of SHOUT LONDON, believes the event, which aims to bring unseen and often poorly understood mental health issues into a more open discourse, is timely comes.
“The Covid lockdown has had a significant negative impact on public mental health and the ability of services to deal with it, reducing personal engagement against an overburdened system and exposing existing and growing inequalities,” he said.
Ashford Place CEO Danny Maher
“As the thinking and politics surrounding well-being continue to be trapped in a top-down infrastructure, Ashford Place is incredibly proud to support SHOUT LONDON, which aims to restore balance by providing a platform that publicly Fosters focused conversations inspired by honest portrayals of mental health in film and the creative arts,” he added.
Covering film, music, theatre, dance and poetry, SHOUT LONDON is curated by Silver Mountain Productions who, along with The Kiln Theatre, are also sponsors with Carey Fitzgerald as Festival Director, Ronald de Neef as Program Director and Dominique Murphy-de Neef as Marketing Director.
And Michelle Collins, star of stage and screen, has been announced as the festival’s patron.
“I’m proud to be the Patron of Shout London – every family is affected by some type of mental health and I’m delighted that Shout London is opening the conversation as the topic is too often ignored,” she said.
“The festival will celebrate the importance of the creative arts and mental health well-being.”
Festival Patron Michelle Collins
As planning begins for the first festival, Ms. Fitzgerald looks forward to the future.
“Our long-term plan is to grow SHOUT LONDON into one of the most diverse cultural annual events on the calendar, spanning a broad spectrum across all arts,” she said.
“By working with communities and forming collaborations, the festival aims to celebrate the artistic expression of people experiencing mental health issues, exploring the relationship between creativity and the mind while promoting positive mental health and well-being.”
The free inaugural edition of SHOUT LONDON: The Ashford Place Mental Health Film and Arts Festival will take place at The Kiln Cinema in Kilburn and The Crown Hotel London on 10th and 11th October to coincide with World Mental Health Day.
Further information and the festival program can be found here.
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