Voices With Impact 2024
Serious Mental Illness and Cliques & Echo Chambers
Every year, we award funding to ten teams to produce short films on timely mental health themes. We’re honored to announce this year’s recipients:
All Meat Diet
Hae Ji Cho
Hae Ji Cho is a Korean Brazilian American creative currently based in Los Angeles, CA. As a writer-director, she tells stories that shine light on the beauty and grief within the endless contradictions and peculiarities found in the human experience.
ALL MEAT DIET follows the journey of a young man who turns to a collective of zealous fitness enthusiasts in pursuit of his "best self." As the protagonist entrenches himself in a community that mirrors his ambitions, he also finds the shame he harbors reflected back at him through the voices of several of his most fervent peers.
All Meat Diet
Kevin Alcántar
Kevin Alcántar (he/they) is a Mexican-American multi-disciplinary artist. By exploring the rich inner lives of everyday people, his work aims to highlight how grand stories can be found in the unlikeliest of places.
ALL MEAT DIET follows the journey of a young man who turns to a collective of zealous fitness enthusiasts in pursuit of his "best self." As the protagonist entrenches himself in a community that mirrors his ambitions, he also finds the shame he harbors reflected back at him through the voices of several of his most fervent peers.
Plant People
Jason Eksuzian
Jason Eksuzian is an award-winning writer/director whose work has been seen at Austin Film Festival, SXSW, Tribeca Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Series Fest, LA Comedy Festival and on networks such as CBS, Bravo, MTV and Discovery+.
Plant People is a quirky drama that explores the connection between loneliness and mental health.
Plant People
Kincaid Walker
A Northwestern graduate, Kincaid Walker is a writer-producer and actor whose extensive credits include ABC, NBC, CBS, CW and Disney, feature films, and dozens of national commercials. She created the award-winning digital series, Hug it Out.
Plant People is a quirky drama that explores the connection between loneliness and mental health.
Crane
Aiden Keltner
Aiden Keltner's focus as a filmmaker is on telling underrepresented stories from the mental health community. Aiden has been inspired by his own lived experience with close family members diagnosed with serious mental illnesses.
Crane tells the story of a relationship between a father with Serious Mental Illness and his daughter, told through the eyes of the child. The film explores the alienation and loneliness that can come from living with a parent with an SMI, and how a simple act of love can shift the child's perspective.
Crane
Aakash Raj
Aakash Raj is a Los Angeles based cinematographer with over twelve years of experience. Aakash's films have garnered international recognition, with premieres and showcases at renowned festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, TIFF, Raindance, and more.
Crane tells the story of a relationship between a father with Serious Mental Illness and his daughter, told through the eyes of the child. The film explores the alienation and loneliness that can come from living with a parent with an SMI, and how a simple act of love can shift the child's perspective.
3200 Degrees Fahrenheit
Gavin Seal
Gavin Seal is a filmmaker on a mission to dissolve otherness using the universal language of cinema. His work includes Followers (Fantasia, Reelworld) and Case Claus'd (Montreal International Black Film Festival, CBC Short Film Face Off).
After learning his mentally ill brother signed a do-not-resuscitate order, Nabil Khan is forced to decide whether or not to save his life against his will.
Meditations Between Us
Ashleigh Vaillancourt
Ashleigh Vaillancourt is an award-winning filmmaker and multimedia artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is known for her work exploring themes of personal resilience, and has shown her pieces in festivals and galleries around the globe.
“Meditations Between Us” is a short experimental animation depicting two lovers as they grapple with the challenges posed by schizophrenia. One, ensnared by delusions, leaves the other behind.
Screenless
Brandon Hicks
Brandon Hicks is a writer and cartoonist based in New Brunswick, Canada. He is the author/illustrator of several books and frequent contributor to a number of publications. His award-winning short films have played in international festivals.
Screenless is a short animated film about how social media and the online sphere impact a person. We follow a woman through a normal day, but all of the interactions that typically happen in the online space are taking place in the physical world.
Bonfire
David McShane
David is an animation director based in London. His award-winning shorts have played internationally, premiering at Cannes (Solar Plexus) and the BFI London Film Festival (Come). He also works as a stop-motion animator.
Bonfire is an animation exploring the echo chambers of teenagers on a Bonfire night. Bonfire examines how this internet-facilitated world (often hyper-sexualised) leads to mental health issues like depersonalisation and depression.
The Four Noble Truths
Asha Alaji-Sharif
Asha Alaji-Sharif is a visual artist from Atlanta, who enjoys storytelling through every medium. Although she’s always loved filmmaking, her first feature, released in 2019, sparked her passion of sharing other’s stories through documentaries.
The Four Noble Truths is a short documentary detailing how Schizophrenia and other mental illness have impacted Maeta’s life and how he has learned to cope with it.
Clubbing
Eric Forbes
Eric (he/him) is a director and cinematographer from Fort Collins, Colorado, who is passionate about films focused on mental health. He has directed/co-created multiple films on topics including ADHD, family system structures, and climate anxiety.
Facing social isolation and anxiety, a college freshman who has never left his rural town attends a club fair, where he is bombarded with comedic yet overwhelming monologues by each club leader on what it takes to join their clique.
Clubbing
Zach Myers
Zach is a writer and director who has worked independently in film and media for over six years. He specializes in comedy writing, and has directed several comedies that explore the absurd, anxious, and endearing qualities of day-to-day social interactions.
Facing social isolation and anxiety, a college freshman who has never left his rural town attends a club fair, where he is bombarded with comedic yet overwhelming monologues by each club leader on what it takes to join their clique.
Fat Hen
Leanne Dimant
Leanne is a director based in the UK. She’s created content for the Red Cross and the V&A Museum. She’s currently making the documentary ‘Something Glamorous, Something Awkward’, about an artist in hospital making spaceships to cross social borders.
Fat Hen follows Sue, an artist who began working visually during time spent in hospitals. Her artworks or ’excretions of the head’, are one way to recalibrate all she’s survived. An unexpected friendship with horticulturist Sergio unearths a newfound love of plants.
SORRY I MISSED YOUR CALL
Hae Ji Cho
Hae Ji Cho (she/her) is a Korean Brazilian American writer, director, and producer based in Los Angeles, CA. Her creative work shines light on the beauty and grief within the endless contradictions and peculiarities found in the human experience.
Through a series of real voicemails, SORRY I MISSED YOUR CALL guides us through a woman's journey as she examines the emotional turmoil of caretaking for her grandmother as she develops Alzheimer's. This mixed media film will address themes such as caretaker burnout, guilt and shame, and the complexity of love.
SORRY I MISSED YOUR CALL
Helena Han
Helena Han (she/her) is a Korean Brazilian visual artist with over 45 years of experience in diverse mediums. Her work includes but is not limited to fashion design, graphic design, papermaking, ceramics, natural dyeing, silk painting, jewelry, and more.
Through a series of real voicemails, SORRY I MISSED YOUR CALL guides us through a woman's journey as she examines the emotional turmoil of caretaking for her grandmother as she develops Alzheimer's. This mixed media film will address themes such as caretaker burnout, guilt and shame, and the complexity of love.
LOOKING GLASS
Ivanna Samuel
Ivanna is an actor, spoken-word poet, and filmmaker based in Vancouver. She created the short film “Who We Are” and is the writer & director of “The Book of Black Voices”. Ivanna’s films reflect themes of mental health and self-expression.
LOOKING GLASS is a narrative short film that illustrates how invisibility is often intimate, personal, and impactful to mental health.
A Town Called Needville
Kincaid Walker
With a background in psychology and experience working with end-of-life and special needs individuals , Audrey embraces filmmaking with care and humility. Audrey's projects often focus on activism and delve into themes such as mental health.
"A Town Called Needville" is an autobiographical film capturing a 27-year-old woman's experience during and after 'depression camp.'
In My Skin
Jaye Abhau
Jaye Abhau, a filmmaker with a background in documentary and anthropology, seeks the mythical within the everyday. Her work reflects an ethical storytelling approach, portraying the connection between people and nature to inspire a new, shared world.
"In My Skin" is an intimate, poetic short film that explores the relationship between the female body and aging, interweaving stunning visuals of nature with the lived experiences of women. Through in-depth interviews, women of various ages share their stories, discussing the changes their bodies have undergone and the pressures society places on them.
In My Skin
Evangeline Modell
A producer, photographer, and journalist working across branded content, investigative journalism, and wildlife films. Creating shows for Channel 4, Nat Geo, and Discovery, recently focusing on veteran mental health alongside ex-military teams.
"In My Skin" is an intimate, poetic short film that explores the relationship between the female body and aging, interweaving stunning visuals of nature with the lived experiences of women. Through in-depth interviews, women of various ages share their stories, discussing the changes their bodies have undergone and the pressures society places on them.
I Bathe with Moths
Myranda Hulka
A director and stop-motion animator from Portland, Oregon working in the genres of fantasy and psychological drama, using creatures and extreme environments to delve into a character's psyche and how they are affected by the world.
I Bathe with Moths is a stop-motion psychological drama about a girl in the military struggling with anxiety in the form of an infestation of moths in her room.
The Animals
Michael Makaroff
Michael has directed award-winning music videos for Grammy and Juno artists and won multiple awards for his short films. His latest, The Dog, competed in 11 festivals. Commercial clients include Arc’teryx, BC Milk, and P&G.
A young man, James, is confronted with a sexual assault that he perpetrated and dives into the personal and societal factors that shape him into the man that he is becoming.
The Spinning Wheel
Davy Stoces
Davy Stoces (they/them) is an award-winning animator with a passion for storytelling. Their thesis film “Our Little Worlds” won Best Animated Film at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, and was selected for three more festivals.
"The Spinning Wheel" is an animated film that gives coping mechanisms life in the form of a strange, bug-like creature called the Spinner. It follows a young man around, spinning his thoughts into golden thread--until its spinning wheel breaks.
The Spinning Wheel
Max Wasserstrom
Max Wasserstrom (he/him) is passionate about developing his writing talents, often working on stories with Davy Stoces. Interested in law, he one day hopes to integrate his passion for academics and the arts to ensure artists receive the recognition they deserve.
"The Spinning Wheel" is an animated film that gives coping mechanisms life in the form of a strange, bug-like creature called the Spinner. It follows a young man around, spinning his thoughts into golden thread--until its spinning wheel breaks.
UNFOLDING
Meghna Chakraborty
Meghna Chakraborty is an LA-based director, producer and dancer / choreographer. Her projects span documentaries, music videos and narrative film.
“Unfolding” is a short documentary capturing a Japanese American sexual assault survivor’s journey as she finds healing and liberation beyond the courtroom.
UNFOLDING
Priscilla Jayne
A former CFO turned film producer, currently working in story development with Emmy nominated writer John Rice. She has previously consulted award winning writers and an Oscar winning producer.
“Unfolding” is a short documentary capturing a Japanese American sexual assault survivor’s journey as she finds healing and liberation beyond the courtroom.
UNFOLDING
Iris (Yi Youn) Kim
Iris (Yi Youn) Kim is a Korean American reporter at NBC News covering Asian American culture, identity, and politics.
“Unfolding” is a short documentary capturing a Japanese American sexual assault survivor’s journey as she finds healing and liberation beyond the courtroom.
i absolutely hate this place
Gabriel Souza Nunes
Gabriel is an award-winning gender-queer Brazilian filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC. Their work is frequently inspired by Latin American folklore, Magical Realism and gender expressions, exploring themes like nostalgia and diasporic relationships.
i absolutely hate this place is an experimental mixed media animation short film exploring the body-image challenges impact queer men and their day-to-day life
i absolutely hate this place
Aries Ceta
Aries Ceta is a filmmaker with a diverse background, having been born in Albania and raised in Italy, and having studied and worked in both London and Vancouver. During her studies at Vancouver Film School, she honed her skills in producing and assistant directing, and has since worked on several short films, commercials and features.
i absolutely hate this place is an experimental mixed media animation short film exploring the body-image challenges impact queer men and their day-to-day life
Focus Throw
Kie Cummings
A filmmaker and photographer who creates visually engaging, meaningful stories. I craft thought-provoking narratives across genres—from documentaries to promotional films—focused on empathy, authenticity, and strong production values.
Paralympian javelin thrower Dan reflects on the impact of his gradual sight loss, from competing in able-bodied athletics to winning Paralympic gold. The film explores the complex balance between visibility, disability, and mental health.