By Kerri Mackenzie
Arts Editor
In October two very exciting social justice festivals will be held in Glasgow. The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival (SMHAFF) will be held in various locations from 1-19 October and the Document Film Festival, based at the Centre for Contemporary Art Glasgow, will run from the 9-12 October.
SMHAFF will explore the nature of personal ,political and social power as well as the disempowerment associated with mental ill health through film, theatre, literature and music. The festival contains an exciting film programme which includes film premiers; Beneath the Blindfold which documents the effects of overcoming torture and Alive Inside examines the power of music in helping Alzheimer’s sufferers.
The theatre programme is also incredibly exciting with Vacuum Cleaner returning to the festival with The Assessment, a piece which challenges mental health assessment in a humorous and thought provoking way.
The festival’s first International Writing Awards will be held at the Mitchell Library in association with Bipolar Scotland and will examine the power of writing for understanding and recovering from mental ill health.
For a full brochure of events being held in Glasgow during the festival please visit http://mhfestival.com or follow the festival on twitter @SMHAFF.
Document Film Festival returns for its 12th year and has launched a comprehensive women and youth programme to accompany its international programme. The Women’s Programme, in collaboration with the Glasgow Women’s Library and TYCI, aims to highlight the discrimination faced by woman and the need for equality as well as covering issues faced by woman from FGM to imprisonment to representation in the media. The Festival will showcase a wide range of films with many different issues including Kismet an exploration of the relationship between women’s soap operas and the rising divorce rates in the Middle East.
The Youth Programme will cover a range of issues including homelessness, asylum seekers and everyday life with titles, including Faridullah’s Day Off and Riot From Wrong, which examines the 2011 London Riots.
The International Programme is based on the theme of “access to justice” and will feature films highlighting various issues from torture to biodiversity to mental health, globalisation, Israel and Palestine, protest and grassroots activism, migrant stories and Roma rights.
Further information on the festival can be found online at http://documentfilmfestival.org or follow the festival on twitter @DocuFilmFestif (document.currentScript) {
