A free annual film festival is being held by UCLan to help promote positive mental health.

One in Four Film Festival will return for its 12th year.

Advertisements

It will take place from Monday 8 October – Friday 12 October.

Named after the World Health Organisation’s statistic that one in four people will be affected by a mental health issue in their lifetime, the five-day event aims to shine a spotlight on numerous mental health issues to promote openness and discussion.

A different film will be screened each evening, with topics including dealing with anxiety, bereavement, homelessness, disability and coping with being perceived as different to societal norms.

At the end of each film, a speaker affected by each particular issue will address the audience to encourage discussion.

Read more: Father-and-son mental health rap duo release debut album

UCLan’s Comensus group has organised the event.

The group brings service users, carers and the wider community into the University to work closely with students across different courses so that they can work directly with real patients as part of their training.

Comensus co-ordinator and Festival organiser Lisa Malihi-Shoja said: “People are now beginning to talk more openly about mental health and we want to use music and film as a positive means to stimulate discussion.

“It is something that can affect all of us one way or another and the One in Four Film Festival is a fantastic platform to share our stories.”

The films that will be screened are:

• Monday – Birdman
• Tuesday – Breathe
• Wednesday –  Co Co (matinee) and A street cat named Bob (evening performance)
• Thursday – The Greatest Showman
• Friday – A Fantastic Woman (foreign language film with subtitles)

Each film will be screened at 7pm in UCLan’s Mitchell and Kenyon Cinema, with entertainment starting at 6.30pm.

Read more: New mental health unit opens at Royal Preston Hospital

UCLan’s Burnley Campus will also screen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly at 5.30pm on Tuesday 16 October and Wonder at 12.30pm on Wednesday 17 October.

You can keep up to date by visiting the UCLan Comensus Facebook page.

Do you study at UCLan? Will you be attending the event? Let us know in the comments below