Winner
AWI Short Film Competition

The Conversation That Never Happened (从未发生过的对话)

Asian Americans are less likely to access services for mental health, despite being one of the largest populations struggling with depression and suicidal ideation. This short film explores a conversation between a mother and her child, with the goal of starting more conversations about this issue.

Content Heads Up: depression, stigma

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Director: Gordon Yao

Gordon Yao is a resident physician and filmmaker who strongly believes that visual storytelling is one of the most effective ways of bridging barriers of communication. As an Asian American immigrant himself, Gordon hopes to utilize film as a tool to help immigrants navigate difficult healthcare related topics, including mental health. The topic is especially personal to Yao who, as a medical student, has witnessed fellow med students die by suicide each year that he has been studying. Joanne Mau is a filmmaker and radio host with a passion for creative storytelling, drawn to projects that use multimedia to communicate new ideas, images, and messages that create change. In 2013, Joanne and Gordon co-directed an award winning short film at the Toronto Urban Film Festival (TUFF), receiving the honour of the City of Toronto Award for Emerging Filmmakers! Jennifer Kim is a nurse and pianist whose experiences in the healthcare field gave her an interest in using music to retell patient stories. Henry Shaw stars in the film and is in his final year as a student at McGill University in Montreal. Henry recognizes that everyone’s story is worth exploring and applauds efforts to promote diverse stories expressed in film.

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Depression

Depression causes severe, negative changes in the way you think and feel which makes it difficult to manage day-to-day tasks and activities such working, sleeping,...

Stigma

Stigma is: Always untrue Always negative Can be felt toward yourself Stigma around mental illness includes having fixed ideas and judgments about mental illness and/or...

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