Film

Our film follows a young student who is silently struggling under mounting academic, social, and personal pressures. As expectations build, he begins to feel overwhelmed and isolated, which is visually represented through a powerful underwater scene that symbolizes the sensation of drowning. He expresses that he needs someone to notice him and reach out. At his lowest point, a friend recognizes the signs that something is wrong and makes the choice to step in. That simple act of reaching out becomes a turning point, showing that support and connection can make recovery possible for anyone. Our submission reflects the required content criteria by emphasizing the importance of being supportive and not waiting to get help. The film demonstrates how a caring friend can be there with emotional support. It reinforces the message that mental health challenges do not define a person and that recovery is possible, especially when someone feels seen and supported. Ultimately, our film encourages viewers to take action, check in on their friends, and understand that reaching out can truly save someone from feeling like they are drowning alone.

When I first moved from Beijing to Palo Alto when I was seven, my classmates treated me like a pariah for being Chinese. Clearly, this was all because of the narcissism of small differences that humans create to mask their inferiority, but as a child, you don’t know why you’re an outcast. You just know you are.

I tried to fit in by changing the way I dressed, what I ate, and how I spoke. None of it worked. Over time, I became scared of people, but isolating myself made me extremely lonely. Drawing became a way to express myself when words felt too heavy. When I draw, I forget the pain — it’s like the world goes quiet, and I can finally breathe. I hope when people see my film, they realize that even when it feels like you’re stuck, invisible, and unheard, creating something can still give you hope.

This PSA was about my character struggling with her mental health. She thought about how if she’s waiting for someone to notice and help, then maybe other people are waiting too. The best way for someone to help you is if you reach out first. When she looks at pictures of her friends she wonders if maybe they are going through something as well. As the camera pans to each person, we see and hear their stories that our main character would have never known. However, those people on their own reached out to someone they know and they were able to find help. She unknowingly was right about the chance of them having their own mental health struggles. It can be the people you least expect too. Because she understood that it is best, she chose to talk to her mom about her problems and was able to find the support she needed.

The character in the film is losing interest in his favorite hobby, something that many people, young and old, struggle with. He is losing his love for guitar, which scares him into a spiral; he wrestles with his weight and how he can share it, IF he can share it. Ultimately, he calls a friend and lifts the pressure off his shoulders.

This PSA shows how mental health struggles aren’t always obvious and often happen quietly. Through a narrator and short voiceovers, the video shares what it feels like to keep feelings bottled up. One friend is seen overwhelmed but unsure how to speak up, while the other notices the change and chooses to care. The message focuses on how silence can make things heavier, and how reaching out—or just listening—can make a difference. The PSA reminds viewers that you dont need perfect words to ask for help or support someone, just presence, empathy, and care and into connection.

The video begins at a school campus, showing how the main character feels alone even while being around her friends. Throughout the video, flashbacks show her isolation at home, highlighting how much her mental health was affecting her. These moments contrast with the present, where she begins to open up and talk with her friends. As she shares what she’s been holding in, the heaviness starts to ease. The storm in her mind doesn’t fully disappear, but it becomes quieter. The gloomy sky seen before shifts to bright sunlight, showing how connection and support can make a difficult moment feel lighter and less lonely.

Our submission is a story about a teenage girl going through thoughts of isolation and anxiety, thinking she is the only one. She writes her thoughts in her diary, but out of fear of sharing, she shoves her words into a jar. The jar becomes more and more filled overtime, as she succumbs to the pressure of needing to be perfect. Finally she shares and opens up to her friend, finally realizing she is not alone. She makes sense of her feelings with her friend by her side.

This film shows how stigma can prevent someone from reaching out. In the beginning, the main character feels something off about a friend’s behavior and thinks about checking in. However, she thinks about phrases such as “What if I’m wrong?” or “What if they don’t want to talk about it?”. Although, the main character wants to help a struggling friend, throughout the film, the viewer begins to realize that the main character is struggling as well. Ultimately, the friend that the main character suspects is struggling ends up being the one the reach out revealing that you don’t need to be “okay” or have everything figured out to check in. When people watch this PSA, I want them to understand that fear doesn’t have to stop you from caring, instead it can be the reason you choose the reach out and support someone else.

One Step At A Time is a short film about the varying journeys we all have with our mental health. The usage of different footprints as symbolism in the film conveys the wide array of experiences we have with our mental health. Our film shows a girl who is struggling on a hike when she finds encouragement from another girl on the hike. It also shows how sometimes it may feel like your mental health is getting better, when all of a sudden, you find yourself back where you started. Even though they take different paths, they all make it to the same place, a healthy mental state. In the montage, we used different footsteps in different terrain to resemble different people’s paths and how everyone’s path with their mental health may be different. We hope that other students struggling with their mental health will feel seen, and understand that healing is not perfect.

Our entry video, The Imperfect Athlete, is about a girl who is going through stress and anxiety from sports. She has been going through depression, and puts so much pressure on herself. She is afraid to talk with others because she thinks she’s the only one, and doesn’t know if her coaches or teammates would understand her. She thinks she’s the only athlete going through this, but comes to realize there are people who are going through the same thing, and can help.

Our entry dives into the world of two friends. One friend is experiencing mental health challenges and does not know how to reach out to his friend for help. At the same time, his friend, who wants to help him, does not know how to reach out either. They both battle their thoughts and eventually sit down together and the depressed student gets the help and compassion he needs from his friend. They both move forward with better states mind and a stronger, healthier friendship.