Suicide Prevention

Why Waste Rice?”

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I chose this category because growing up in a traditional Filipino household meant that I grew up thinking that mental illness was something that a person did to themselves. When my aunt and cousin had their psychotic episodes, my family would deem it as their fault and let it go on for too long. Through this project, I eventually learned that it was a common Filipino stigma and not just something my family made me believe. In 2018, the Philippines finally passed the first mental health bill to provide funding for treating mental illnesses, which is extraordinary considering how long the U.S. has worked to overcome this stigma. Unfortunately, many older generational Filipinos still pass down this mindset to their children, who in turn don’t ask for help when they need it. Seeing and experiencing this first hand, prompted me to make this film for my fellow Filipino-Americans.

Reach Out

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Our film is an animated short focused on reaching out to loved ones who may be suffering with depression or suicidal thoughts. It focuses on a boy in emotional pain, and he exhibits many signs of somebody with suicidal thoughts. His friend notices these signs in him and she decides to reach out in order to help him, giving him comforting words. Our group wanted to educate and assist those around us so we tried to create a video that was as helpful as possible to teenagers. While making the film, we ourselves learned about how to reach out to loved ones we are concerned about.

Audience of One

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A protagonist, depressed at the hopelessness of their life, goes to his desk and tears out the pages of his life, his memories. Ultimately, though, his actions draw the sympathy of a dear friend of his, who reminds him that, even when everything seems terrible, every moment of his life means something.

An Awkward Conversation

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In a voicemail, a boy shares his concerns to a friend and asks him directly if he is thinking of suicide, so the friend decides to reach out to a crisis line for help.

Ever since my middle school friend took his own life, I was always haunted by the question of what would’ve happened if I had just reached out. This film gave me an opportunity to explore the answer to that question.

I Love You So Much It Hurts

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“I Love You So Much It Hurts” is a minute-long PSA for suicide prevention. This short PSA is a love letter from a concerned young man to his friend who is suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts. August, is fighting, or in this case running, hard to get through to his best friend, Ben who suffers from depression and thoughts of suicide. When August finally reaches Ben, the two friends embrace in a powerful and intimate hug. Something as simple as this hug can go a long way for someone who is feeling alone and isolated at a young age.

I was inspired to share this story because I went through the same thing with a best friend recently. My best friend struggles with depression and suicide but continues to seek help with resources like therapy and medication. When those things aren’t enough he trusts some of his closest friends enough to open up and talk to us about what he’s going through. He also stays very busy doing the things he loves most like make music and practice photography.

Depression and thoughts of suicide effect so many young people in our community and I hope that by sharing this short story that there’s some more awareness that comes from it. This subject is really hard to talk about but it doesn’t have to be and I want to help inspire that change.

Dear Friend

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One of the problems we have frequently found in adolescents is a struggle to find the right words when communicating with someone struggling with suicidal thoughts. “Dear Friend,” is a visual “how to” for a healthy conversation with a friend pondering suicide. We tried to portray a variety of situations and types of friends that would be able to provide help (for example, a classmate can help equally as much as a best friend). While writing our script, we did a lot of research on what the best things were to say when you fear your friend is thinking about suicide. While working together on this film, we were able to open up to each other about our own struggles with depression and have good dialogue together based off of our work.

The Promise

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A film that shows how to empathetically start a conversation with a friend who exhibits changes in their behavior and connect them to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Mind Over Media

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Our group chose to focus on suicide prevention because it was the most meaningful to us. Before planning the video, the members of our group deeply discussed quarantine and the effect the pandemic has had on the mental health of teens. We decided to ensure our video emphasized the importance of reaching out to a friend or loved one. We wanted to spread the message that any kind gesture, no matter how small, can do wonders.