Mental Filmness Film Festival: A Groundbreaking Celebration of Mental Health Through The Art of Cinema

The 2025 Mental Filmness Film Festival is doing something truly extraordinary in the world of independent cinema. Taking place in Chicago on October 10-11, this festival represents far more than just another showcase of film screenings—it’s a vital platform that’s revolutionizing how we process, understand, and de-stigmatize mental health through the power of personal storytelling. The live event is definitely to be commended and celebrated as well as the online version too which allows you to stream: https://watch.eventive.org/mentalfilmness2025

Mental Filmness is giving filmmakers a platform on which they feel empowered to create new ways of storytelling as well as explore and unravel the many layers of mental health. The program encourages filmmakers to engage with this challenging and compelling subject to create authentic portrayals through which stigmas are broken and empathy is fostered. In an era where mental health awareness is more critical than ever, particularly among young people, this festival serves as both mirror and window—reflecting real experiences while opening new perspectives for audiences.

Mental health is an extremely important issue and film can be a wonderful tool for helping them explore difficult feelings and broach uneasy subjects. Thought-provoking films can allow people of all ages to discuss the many messy and complex issues associated with mental well-being in an accessible, insightful way. Using film can help develop compassion and resilience (as it has for me), while the act of filmmaking can provide a powerful means of self-expression.

This yearly event showcases an impressive array of films that tackle mental health from multiple angles, demonstrating the festival’s commitment to diverse voices and perspectives. It all takes place live at The Chicago Hope Academy (October 10th + 11th) features a carefully curated selection that spans various aspects of mental health experience. Check out the live lineup below!

Friday, October 10th

Motivation (dir. Alanna Bagladi, 6 min.) opens the evening with a relatable, intimate look at the daily struggles many face, exploring how “struggling with everyday tasks is always an uphill battle” and the small victories found in simply getting out of bed and giving yourself a pep talk.

Under The Door (dir. Jeffrey Gabriel Silva, 7 min.) delves into the terrifying experience of a woman wrestling with anxious thoughts and hallucinations about life and death, struggling to separate fiction from reality as shadows emerge from under the door. This film promises to capture the visceral nature of anxiety and intrusive thoughts in a way that’s both artistic and authentic.

Make Me Feel (dir. S. Knight, 30 min.) presents the story of Jamal, a devoted father and husband who struggles to balance his demanding job and troubled past while secretly battling depression. This longer piece allows for deeper character development and explores the often-hidden nature of depression, particularly in those who appear to have it all together.

Tales of Harsh Gruder (dir. J. Paul Presault, John Otterbacher, 30 min.), which masterfully blends animation, buddy comedy, and suicidal contemplation into a one-of-a-kind short film. The description promises a work that will leave audiences “emotionally floored” as it follows a recovering addict contemplating the point of living when an unexpected visit by his life-long buddy sets in motion a night of psychedelic absurdity and devastating revelation.

Saturday, October 11th

Manic Memoirs (dir. Francesca Gamba, 8 min.) comes from Northwestern University’s Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab, which also focuses on films about mental health. The film follows college freshman Ana Sanchez as her racing thoughts and erratic behavior reveal the onset of mania, capturing how “her euphoric highs give way to the terrifying revelation that she is not ok.”

There Is No Word For Depression (dir. Anaya Brainch, 6 min.) tackles the crucial issue of mental health stigma in South Asian communities through documentary filmmaking. Created when the director was just 17 years old, this film represents the kind of youth voice and perspective that makes Mental Filmness so vital.

After Thoughts (dir. Cortez Mack, 10 min.) Another great local talent offers an inspirational story about PTSD awareness, bringing attention to the lasting impacts of internal struggles and how they conflict with the outside world.

The Past Is Here (dir. Jim Laczkowski (i think i know him?), 6 min.) takes a deeply personal approach as a filmmaker attempts to explore his inner demons through various video archives in hopes of making sense of recurring suicidal ideation—a raw examination of one of the more difficult subjects, and also touches on family trauma.

Sky Devils (dir. Nick Chirico, 20 min.) is a surrealist espionage thriller about a shell-shocked WWI Fighter Ace having paranoid visions that the Second World War is coming. With meticulous research and the use of real airplanes, this film must be seen on the big screen and demonstrates how mental health themes can be explored through genre filmmaking.

There are Q&A sessions with the filmmakers, creating space for audiences to engage directly. Friday’s session will feature Alanna Bagladi, Jeffrey Gabriel Silva, S. Knight, J. Paul Presault, and John Otterbacher, while Saturday brings local talent like Francesca Gamba, Cortez Mack, and Nick Chirico. These conversations transform the festival from a passive viewing experience into an active community event where stories are shared, questions are asked, and understanding deepens.

Mental Filmness succeeds because it understands a fundamental truth: art can reach people in ways that clinical language and a diagnosis cannot. By presenting mental health experiences both live and online through narrative film, documentary, animation, and experimental formats, the festival creates multiple entry points for understanding. Someone who might dismiss a pamphlet about depression might see themselves in Jamal’s struggle in Make Me Feel. A young person who feels alone in their anxiety might find validation in Under The Door. Families from South Asian communities might finally have language for their experiences after watching There Is No Word For Depression.

The festival’s range—from the everyday struggles depicted in Motivation to the wildly surrealist approach of Sky Devils—demonstrates that mental health experiences are as varied as the people who live them. There’s no single story, no one way to depict depression, anxiety, PTSD, mania, or suicidal ideation. Mental Filmness honors this complexity by showcasing diverse approaches and perspectives.

What Mental Filmness is building in Chicago represents a model that other festivals should emulate. By creating a dedicated space for mental health narratives in film, it validates both the filmmakers brave enough to tell these stories and the audiences who need to hear them. It sends a clear message: these narratives matter, these experiences are valid, there is power in sharing them.

Mental Filmness is more than another event—it’s a movement that should be embraced by all. By empowering filmmakers to explore mental health with honesty, creativity, and courage, and by providing audiences with a safe space to engage with these challenging subjects, the festival is actively working to break down stigmas and build up understanding. In a world where mental health issues are increasingly prevalent, particularly among young people and artists, initiatives like Mental Filmness are not just valuable—they’re essential.

This lineup for October 10-11, 2025, represents some of the most compelling, authentic, and diverse mental health storytelling in independent cinema today. Not to mention more to come from the virtual offerings as well. From the intimate to the epic, from the realistic to the surreal, these films collectively paint a picture of mental health that’s as complex and multifaceted as the human experience itself. Mental Filmness deserves recognition not just for what it’s accomplishing this weekend in Chicago and virtually, but for the broader cultural conversation it’s fostering about mental health, storytelling, and the power of cinema to heal, educate, and transform. Founder, creator, curator Sharon Gissy should truly be proud of all the incredibly hard work she puts into this year after year. This is a project that deserves all your support.

This is independent filmmaking that matters. And here we have a showcase that changes lives and reassures others (both the artists and the attendees) that we are truly not alone in what we struggle with. Get your tickets now and come!