Film festival on mental health from Oct 6

Chennai, Oct 4 (UNI) A three-day film festival on mental health will be held here from October six in a bid to create awareness about mental illness and to remove the stigma attached to it.

Nine feature films, including the latest blockbuster 'Lage Raho Munnabhai'(Hindi), Mohanlal-starrer 'Thanmatra' (Malayalam) and 'Prathama Usha Kiran' (Kannada) will be screened in the festival named 'Frame of Mind.' City-based Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) is organising the festival in association with Airtel.

Addressing a press conference here, SCARF Director R Thara said mentally challenged people had always been assumed and depicted in an 'alarming'' way in the media, particularly in films and television serials.

''Mental illness is being used as a subject of comedy in films and serials. Even psychiatrists are not spared as they are being depicted either as comedians or villains. Such films reinforce the prejudices and myths about mental illness,'' she regretted.

The film festival, a first of its kind in Tamil Nadu, had been organised as a part of anti-stigma campaign and to highlight the role of media in creating awareness about mental health, she said.

'Lage Raho Munnabhai', which was being raved about for depicting Gandhian values, had been shortlisted for the positive potrayal of mental health, Dr Thara added.

She said actor Mohanlal's performance in 'Thanmatra' conveyed the symptomatology of Alzhemier's dementia to perfection, rightly winning him Kerala state and filmfare awards.

Aparna Sen's '15 Park Avenue,' Nicholas Hytner's 'Madness of King George,' Ron Howard's 'A Beautiful Mind,' Scott Hicks' 'Shine,' James L Brooks' 'As Good As It Gets' and 'Devrai' (Marathi) are the other films to be screened in the festival.

Dr Thara also announced that a competitive section for short films had been organised to counter ''negative, inaccurate and cliched images'' of people with mental illness and to encourage clean, accurate and optimistic portrayal.

An eminent panel of jury will view the shortlisted films and choose the three best films. Airtel will sponsor the awards of Rs one lakh, Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000 for the winners.

Actors Parthiban and Rohini, who were also present, stressed on the social responsibility of film makers to provide right kind of information to the public.

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