Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Young film-maker puts focus on mental health
A Dundee film-maker has released a short online video aimed at helping men in the city open up about their mental health battles.
“Mind Yersel” is a threeminute film by 21-year-old Bonnie MacRae and explores the devastating topic of male suicide in the city – which has the highest rate in Scotland.
“I watched first hand how suicide can affect a family, I’ve dealt with depression myself and then I came across an article saying Dundee was Scotland’s suicide capital and it wasn’t something that I was willing to just accept,” Bonnie said.
“When I first had the idea to turn the piece into a short film, I knew I wanted it to be totally about Dundee.”
The film features a small cast who all hail from the City of Discovery, something which Bonnie felt was pivotal to the project.
She added: “Every person featured in the film is born and bred Dundee, and that was really important to me.
“Real boys in Dundee need to see themselves represented in the media, they need to know that they’re not alone in feeling a certain way.
“I have a younger brother and wanted him to watch it and see a little bit of himself in the film.”
The young film-maker, who is from Broughty Ferry, was also full of praise for the film’s leading man, who narrated the short video and also appeared on camera throughout.
“Stephen McMillan features and I think he’s totally done both Dundee and the topic justice,” Bonnie said.
“He was on board with the film as soon as he read the script, having personally experienced similar issues. He genuinely inspires me and I’m so lucky to have had him involved, Dundee should be proud of him.
“I think it’s had such a big impact already because of how close to home it hits. People watch and see someone opening up who speaks the same way they do, who walks the same streets as them – that was imperative.
Bonnie hopes that through watching the video, people of all ages and backgrounds in the city will be encouraged to seek help if they are struggling, and hopefully save lives.
She added: “This film isn’t me preaching on how to cure depression, but I hope that in making the film I’ve started a long-overdue conversation that needed to be had in Dundee.”