Shout London, the mental health and arts festival from Ashford Place, returns for its third outing this weekend.
For the first time the event will take place over the weekend and it has also moved to the new location of Wac Arts in Belsize Park.
The two day event will showcase short films, poetry walls, spoken word, music and an art exhibition showcasing a range of creative talents and shining a light on various mental health conditions.
Shout London aims to change the conversation around mental health, offering refreshing new perspectives and challenging stigma.
Shout’s patron, star of stage and screen Michelle Collins will be supporting the event as she has from the start, with Ashford Place’s Danny Maher and Shout Directors Carey Fitzgerald & Philip Radley-Smith hosting the weekend.
Choreographer and dancer Veena Storm V will bring the energy of Bollywood to the stage opening the festival with a performance.
Veena is a choreographer and dancer from The Modern Indian Dance Company who will participate in a discussion on coping with grief, sharing her own personal insights and observations on healing and resilience.
Joining Veena in this discussion will be Ellie Marron, director of Knuck & Knuckle, a gripping story of boxer Lee Reeves, from Country Limerick who turned to his passion for boxing to cope with his mother’s suicide.
Reeves, an ambassador for Limerick Treaty Suicide Prevention, dedicates his time to championing sport to improve young men’s mental health. The film premiered at the Misléor Festival of Nomadic Cultures and has been vocal in conversations around rates of male suicide in Irish Traveller communities, which are seven times higher than the national average.
Other films in the programme will address areas of mental health which are often overlooked:
Black People Don’t Get Depressed is Sara Chitambo’s debut feature in which she addresses the stigmas of mental illness in Black and African communities, facing her own depression head-on and debunking the myth that Black people don’t get depressed.
Sara says: “My aim has been to understand the experiences of depression that are a burden so many Africans carry secretly and with shame. I want to probe how we process and heal that burden.”
The documentary Unspoken features three men who through their personal stories to give voice to the hidden crisis of eating disorders amongst Irish males, and the public health system which is currently failing them.
Unspoken won two awards at the Headline Mental Health in Media Awards, Ireland.
Best independent drama award winner at the BIFAs (British Independent Film Awards), The Edge of Chaos tells the story of a functioning alcoholic (Aoibhinn McGinnity – NightFlyer, Kypton, Quarry), who attempts to blackmail her well-respected and wealthy father (Sean Mahon – Philomena, EastEnders, Red Rock), over his corrupt business dealings.
Welsh artist Tracy Harris will present her two short films, Reminders which explore themes of isolation, anxiety, and hope. Created during lockdown, these films grew from a collaboration with artists she admired including Aleksandra Jones, who interpreted the text through dance, and cinematographer David Ozkoidi.
The first black world champion Irish dancer and Shout Patron Maria McAteer returns to SHOUT this year with her short film Falling Upwards. The documentary follows her own experience of Depersonalisation Derealisation Disorder (DDD), a little-known condition which causes people to feel outside of themselves, like watching oneself from above. McAteer will be joined for a discussion on DDD by Sacha Wood who has also dealt with DDD and who will also give a live musical performance.
This year Shout London is partnering with VoiceBox, the international youth-led content platform and social enterprise whose mission is to amplify young voices around the world.
VoiceBox Ambassador Kitty Churchfield will be performing a blend of UK pop, soul, spoken word and r&b with a modern cabaret twist.
Kitty’s songs draw on her own experiences, with themes of feminine rage, London living and toxic relationships in the hopes of healing from the past and reaching out to those with similar experiences.
More performances will come from singer songwriters Neil Avery and Becky! who will both be joining discussions on lived experiences of neurodivergence.
The event will feature poetry from Dia turner, author of the published collection From My Father’s Noose. Dia is working on bringing her first play, Wood Green, to life, whilst also converting her blog, Dia’log, to a podcast. There will also be poetry from Sydney Conteh who seeks to use spoken word for the emotional wellbeing of others.
Award-winning comedian Marigold Lately will bring her distinctive humour to discuss serious issues like abuse with sensitivity and wit.
Shout London launched for the first time in 2022 when Michelle Collins and Gail Porter launched the event at Kiln in Kilburn and The Crown Hotel in Cricklewood.
The festival returned last year and has since spread to other cities with Shout Liverpool being the first festival of its kind to take place outside London.
Shout London takes place at Wac Arts in Belsize park 23 and 24 November.
Tickets are free but need to be reserved via the Shout London website www.shoutlondon