Winner
AWI Short Film Competition

The Blind Stigma

The Blind Stigma is a documentary that discusses mental health within the Black community. It chronicles and testifies the stories of five individuals on their trials and triumphs with mental health. Within the Black community, mental health is deemed as a ‘Swept Under The Rug’ stigma that has been creating false illusions and assumptions for a long time. That stigma is the core component of the African Canadian response to mental illness, and therefore African Canadians who suffer from mental illness are less likely to seek treatment. As a result very few studies have been done on the impact of mental illness in the Black community. The Blind Stigma powerfully removes the veil of shame that clouds the topic of mental illness in the Black community, challenge that misconception, give a voice to Black Canadians living with mental illness and leaves the audience more informed and empowered.

 

Content heads up: discussions of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, stigma

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Director: Stacy-Ann Buchanan

Stacy-Ann Buchanan is a professionally trained theater and film actress with numerous theater productions, commercials, and film credits under her belt. She's also dabbled in commercial modeling and has graced several magazine editorials, fashion shows, swimsuit calendars, makeup tutorial videos and numerous other projects. In 2012 she created and produced her first event, The Mystic Effect (TME), that embodies music, poetry, dance, fashion and film. The overwhelming success of the show prompted her to create her own production company, Stacy-Ann Buchanan Productions.

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Anxiety

Anxiety is the most common mental illness out there, and it takes a lot of different forms. Experiencing some level of anxiety is a normal...

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,...

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are a group of conditions that cause serious emotional and physical problems, involving extreme food and weight issues. There are many types of...

Mental Wellness

Mental wellness is a process that involves finding balance in life, including your social, intellectual, physical (diet, exercise, medication management, substance use), spiritual, economic and...

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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