CIFF is proud to present Intinn, meaning ‘mind’ or ‘way of thinking’, our free film and mental health programme. It offers Transition Year students the opportunity to explore mental health, personal well-being and strategies of resilience through film and well-being workshops led by youth mental health specialists.
Developed in collaboration with University College Cork School of Nursing and Midwifery, Intinn has been shortlisted for multiple Business to Arts Awards annually 2021 to 2024.
In May 2025, a study based on Intinn, entitled ‘Adolescents’ Mental Well-Being, Resilience, and Attitudes Towards Help-Seeking During COVID-19: a Cross-Sectional Study‘, was published by Goodwin, J., Hawkins, A., Naughton, C. et al (supported by Rethink Ireland, and ESB Energy for Generations Fund). It was recently named an Outstanding Paper in the 2025 Emerald Literati Awards.
Presented in partnership with UCC and supported by Cork City Council and the HSE.
After her attempted suicide, Hannah must face her emotionally repressed family. Believing that her relationship ending is the root cause of her recent struggles, they avoid talking about the “incident” at all costs. The following workshop will give an overview on the topic of suicide in young people, the risk factors, things to look out for.
Finding himself bound, alone, and desperate to escape the waking nightmare surrounding him, Jared is forced to confront himself on an otherwise perfectly normal day.
The workshop will give an overview of depression in young people, myths, the risk factors, signs and symptoms.
An intimate portrait of artist and musician Kevin Nolan, diagnosed at 19 with schizoaffective disorder.
Following the film screenings, a workshop is delivered by a mental health professional and workshop facilitator, addressing the themes of the chosen film, including practical tips about how to build resilience and enhance wellbeing.
Topics covered also included the importance of authentic discussions about mental health, and appropriate supports. The workshops are devised to help students to explore different mental health experiences, to understand their own wellbeing and ways of developing personal coping and resilience skills.
Intinn is CIFF’s flagship Youth Film and Mental Health Programme. It offers Transition Year students an opportunity to explore mental health and wellbeing through the popular and accessible medium of film, stimulating meaningful conversations through film and providing strategies for resilience.
Intinn was devised in 2019 and developed to bring the creative, healthcare and education sectors together to provide a safe and accessible platform to explore mental health issues and bridge the education gap with mental health and wellbeing through film. The aim is to assist young people to build greater resilience and provide resources to teachers, particularly in response to the increased needs resulting from the pandemic, and to remove the stigma associated with mental health issues.
Intinn is unique in Ireland and delivers a programme of meaningful impact, in person and online, for free. Developed in collaboration with University College Cork, Intinn has been delivered to over 8,000 young people since its pilot in 2019 and nominated for multiple Business to Arts Awards annually since 2021.
The current programme includes three short films, each with Q&As and workshops, available for free both in-person in Cork and online direct to TY classrooms in secondary schools nationwide.
A multi-methods evaluation study on CIFF’s unique and vital youth film and mental health programme, Intinn, has been named an Outstanding Paper in the 2025 Emerald Literati Awards.
‘A film-based intervention (Intinn) to enhance adolescent mental health literacy and well-being: multi-methods evaluation study’, was written by University College Cork’s Dr Johnny Goodwin and colleagues, and was published in Mental Health Review Journal.
It provides strong evidence that Intinn is vital to young people and concludes that there is a need for schools to deliver mental health and resilience focussed interventions.
Chosen by the journal’s editor and editorial team, this recognition reflects our dedication, insight, and unseen efforts to keep knowledge moving forward.
About Emerald Publishing:
Emerald Publishing is one of the world’s leading digital-first publishers, commissioning, curating and showcasing research that can make a real difference. It publishes mission led social science research that tackles key societal challenges aligned with the UN SDGs. In doing so it works with academics who collaborate across disciplines & countries, and with industry and government, to publish research that influences thinking, changes policies, and positively makes a difference to lives beyond the walls of academia.
In May 2025, a study based on Intinn, entitled ‘Adolescents’ Mental Well-Being, Resilience, and Attitudes Towards Help-Seeking During COVID-19: a Cross-Sectional Study’, was published by Goodwin, J., Hawkins, A., Naughton, C. et al. This study concludes that there is a need for schools to deliver mental health and resilience focussed interventions, addressing the needs of their students and engaging difficult to reach groups, such as teenage boys.
You may also like: Illuminate, CIFF’s unique and vital series of film and mental health discussion events for adults, which take place during our annual Festival in November.
Dr Johnny Goodwin
CIFF and Dr Johnny Goodwin have been working together on the development of the Intinn programme since its inception in 2018.
Dr. Johnny Goodwin is a lecturer in mental health nursing in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC. He holds an M.A in Film Studies. His PhD research focused on young people’s perceptions of mental health services. Johnny’s interests also include the use of the arts and creativity in mental health, young people & mental health, and mental health stigma.
Dr Caroline Kilty
Caroline is a Lecturer in the area of Older Adult Mental Health in UCC. She trained as a mental health nurse in Edinburgh in 2000, and has since worked in such areas as acute psychiatry, eating disorders and addictions. Alongside teaching, her area of research includes topics relating t dementia, young onset dementia and rights-based models of care.
Dr Maria O’ Malley
Maria is a lecturer in mental health nursing in UCC. She lectures at both undergraduate and post graduate levels and coordinates the postgraduate course in specialist mental health nursing practice. She is a consultant with a not-for-profit self-harm and suicide prevention organisation across Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Dr John Cummins
John is a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist (CBT) completing his education with Trinity College Dublin. After his studies he has progressed to becoming a trainer and supervisor in this area with University College Cork (UCC). He teaches in UCC on the Postgraduate Diploma in CBT and has been developing his teaching skills in the area since the course’s inception.
Meaning ‘mind’ or ‘way of thinking’, the Intinn programme has grown from 300 students participating in person in Cork in its pilot in 2019 to over 5,700 students participating in over 50 schools throughout Ireland online. In spring 2021, the Intinn programme also provided a unique opportunity to gather essential research on the impacts of this flagship education programme on TY and Senior Cycle students and their teachers, the results of which have contributed to a Report by UCC School of Nursing and Midwifery.
The resulting research study, led by Dr. Johnny Goodwin, titled: Implementation of a Film-Based Mental Health and Wellbeing Workshop in Secondary Schools: INTINN will soon be published. Interim findings endorse the value and importance of this programme, indicating outcomes of a significant decrease in major depression post-intervention, and a significant positive increase in wellbeing, personal resilience, and attitudes towards help-seeking observed. The findings will lead it is hoped, to greater awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues and support for young people, as well as guiding the further development of the Intinn programme for and with young people.
AWARDS
Cork International Film Festival has been shortlisted in the Best Small Sponsorship category with ESB Energy for Generations Fund in the Business to Arts Awards 2022 as an outstanding example of arts organisations and businesses working together in areas such as community engagement, sponsorship, and CSR initiatives, for Intinn.
CIFF and ESB Energy for Generations Fund were also recognised by the 2021 Business to Arts in the Best Small Sponsorship and Best Use of Creativity in the Community categories along with programme partners Creative Ireland, Rethink Ireland and UCC School of Nursing and Midwifery.
CIFF delivered two iterations of Intinn in 2021. In April, the programme was delivered online nationwide and included a screening of Frank Berry’s feature, I Used to Live Here; a Q&A with Berry, actress Jordanne Jones and Clinical Psychologist Dr. Tony Bates; and a webinar workshop. The November iteration was delivered in person in Cork and online nationwide. It comprised two short film screenings of Hum and An Open Door with filmmaker Q&As with Nathan Fagan and Aoise Tutty Jackson and workshops.
Due to the Level 5 lockdown in November 2020, CIFF delivered Intinn online nationwide which included a screening of Frank Berry’s feature, I Used to Live Here; a Q&A with Berry, actress Jordanne Jones and Clinical Psychologist Dr. Tony Bates; and a webinar workshop.
The pilot programme of Intinn screened I Used to Live Here, a film which was researched with young people for young people and sensitively addresses mental health issues, in particular suicide clusters amongst young people. It was attended by award-winning Irish director and mental health advocate Frank Berry (Micheal Inside, Ballymun Lullaby) and followed by interactive wellbeing and resilience building workshops, delivered by the Mental Health Nursing Department in the School of Nursing, UCC, supported by Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health.
