Film festival to promote positive mental health

24 September 2018

Free annual UCLan One in Four Film Festival to return

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is putting mental health on the agenda through its annual One in Four Film Festival.

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 free five-day event aims to shine a spotlight on a variety of mental health issues to promote openness and discussion.

Now in its 12th year, the Festival will run from 8 – 12 October with a different film screened each evening. Topics include 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.

"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."

The event is organised by the UCLan Comensus group, which brings service users, carers and the wider community into the University to work closely with students from a variety of 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 7.00pm in UCLan’s Mitchell and Kenyon Cinema, preceded by entertainment at 6.30pm.  UCLan’s Burnley Campus will also screen two films; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly at 5.30pm on Tuesday 16 October and Wonder at 12.30pm on Wednesday 17 October.

For more information about the One in Four Film Festival and screening times call 01772 893818, visit the UCLan Comensus Facebook page  or email UCLan Comensus. You can also follow UCLan Comensus on Twitter @UCLanComensus