Illuminate & Intinn Film and Mental Health Programmes 2020

Illuminate

Cork International Film Festival’s Illuminate film and mental health strand presents a film and public discussion event which explores different aspects of mental health and wellbeing in partnership with the HSE and ESB Energy for Generations Fund.

The programme was initiated in 2014 and is unique in Ireland, presenting an annual programme of films which explore mental health and wellbeing. Mental health professionals, service users and filmmakers are invited to respond to the film and lead a post-screening discussion inspired by the films.

Into Dad’s Woods (La forêt de mon père)

Vero Cratzborn / Belgium, France, Switzerland / 2019 / 90 mins / Subtitled

Gina is 15 and admires her father Jimmy: a funny, unpredictable, extravagant man (at least
in her eyes), who takes his kids to the woods in the middle of the night, but sometimes
leaves them there. One day Jimmy goes too far and the fragile harmony of his family is
broken. Will Gina take this chance to escape her father’s influence? Vero Cratzborn’s first
feature is a touching family drama that asks important questions about the impact of parents’
mental health issues on their children. AK

Click Here to View the Into Dad’s Woods Educational File

Intinn Youth & Film Mental Health Programme

Cork International Film Festival presents ‘Intinn’, a new film and mental health programme for Transition Year and Senior Cycle students nationwide, delivered online direct to classrooms nationwide.

‘Intinn’, meaning ‘mind’ or ‘way of thinking’, offers students the opportunity to explore themes of mental health and personal wellbeing through the accessible medium of film, an exclusive Q&A and a wellbeing webinar, with classroom resources.

Following a successful pilot programme in Cork on World Suicide Prevention Day 2019, in which over 300 students took part, in 2020 Cork International Film Festival offered the programme to students nationwide, with the support of Creative Ireland, Rethink Ireland and ESB Energy for Generations Fund, engaging with 4000 students and teachers across Ireland.

Building on the success of the Intinn programme in November 2020, Cork International Film Festival is delighted to offer the opportunity in Spring 2021 to Transition Year and Senior Cycle students nationwide to participate in the programme, now additionally supported by an important new Research Project, conducted by our Partner, UCC, which focuses on young people’s well-being.

We are running the Intinn programme and research as one complete project, taking place between Monday 12th April and Friday 21st May 2021, with the programme itself available to watch between Monday 26th April and Friday 7th May.

Intinn offers students a unique three-part mental health and wellbeing programme. The programme includes a screening of award-winning Irish film I Used to Live Here, specially selected for the Intinn programme and researched with Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health. The film follows the story of Amy Keane, a 13-year-old who is trying to cope with the death of her mother and the loss of young people in her local community through suicide.

The screening is followed by an exclusive Q&A with director Frank Berry, rising star Jordanne Jones and Youth Mental Health Advocate Dr Tony Bates. The Q&A is followed by a wellbeing webinar with Johnny Goodwin, UCC School of Nursing, which enables students to explore the film’s themes of bullying, isolation, relationships, suicide and resilience, to build their awareness of local support services through classroom-based activities.

As part of the UCC Research Study, students will complete a Pre-Intinn survey, a Post-Intinn Survey, and will be offered the opportunity to engage in focus group research after taking part in the programme. The overall aim of this study is to explore the impact of Intinn on students and teachers, and it is an extraordinary opportunity to gather essential research on the impacts of this flagship education programme, the results of which will contribute to the Report by UCC. The Report may be included in research journals and presented at academic conferences in future, leading, we hope, to greater awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues and support for young people.

If you would like to help support Cork International Film Festival’s activities, including our education and outreach programmes for young people, you can donate here. Thank you.