Horsham short film will raise mental health awareness

A short film to be made near Horsham this summer will increase awareness of mental health and PTSD. Finding Wilson will aim to stimulate conversation on important social issues. The hope is also to submit it to the Academy Awards for consideration. It comes from Fact Not Fiction Films (established in 2006), a multi award winning independent film and documentary production company based in Horsham. They have a history of making films on public interest issues. Their latest documentary release Everybody Flies (everybodyflies.com) investigated the air you breathe on planes. Last year, they released Missing a Note (missinganote. com), a short film raising awareness of dementia. It enjoyed a selected theatrical release with Everyman. Fact Not Fiction Films CEO

Tristan Loraine said: “I don’t run it as a business to make money. We run it to make films that make a difference and films that create debate. “The film that we did about dementia had such good reviews and such a good response that I wanted to make another film that looked at mental health.” Tristan will be making the film in partnership with The Lucy Rayner Foundation, of which he is a trustee. On May 5 2012, Jenny Rayner and her family in Reigate were tragically faced with the impact of mental illness when their daughter Lucy took her own life, aged just 22. Jenny and her family were inspired to start campaigning about the mental health challenges faced by young adults; they quickly found the support and help available to recognise and treat young adults with mental health challenges was “woefully inadequate and significantly underfunded.” Hence they established The Lucy Rayner Foundation. Tristan and the team explored their story and Lucy’s in the film Lucy – Breaking The Silence: “Lucy had been writing suicide notes for five years, but the family hadn’t known.” The Foundation aims to help reach people; and Tristan will continue the work with his new film. “Written by Viv Young, Finding Wilson is a great script that allows us to work again with the rising star Darcy Jacobs. We have an incredible crew volunteering to make this important short film.” In a time of unemployment for people in the film industry, Tristan is delighted that already 20 crew members have come forward to work on the film for nothing, simply for expenses. “Viv is an amazing screenwriter. I said we needed a short film that would address the issue of mental health in young adults. The story is that the character Darcy plays meets another girl Nicky in the woods, and the film is about what happens between them in the woods. It’s a very, very powerful story. “Nicky is a former paramedic in the military. I was once in Washington and I went to the Vietnam memorial. More soldiers killed themselves when they got back from the war than were killed during the war. Servicemen and ladies put their life on the line and when they come back, they can really struggle. And we owe them a duty of care. “It is not just about paying them a salary and saying ‘We are sorry that your buddy’s leg was blown off and that you saw it happen.’ “We have got to look after these people afterwards. We have got to support them. We have got to show them kindness. There is just not enough kindness in the world.” The film has a promo film on the crowdfunding link of: https://www.crowdfunder. co.uk/finding-wilson-shortfilm. More details: https:// www.facebook.com/ FindingWilsonFilm; and https://www.findingwilson. com