KSA Peer Support hosts ‘Movies for Mental Health’ to encourage students to seek support
The event will screen films to lower the stigma around seeking and receiving mental health resources
KPU students can watch four movies breaking down mental health stigmas on Sept. 24. (Pexels/Aneta Pawlik)
Kwantlen Student Association Peer Support is partnering with the KSA Volunteer Program and non-profit organization Art With Impact to host “Movies for Mental Health” at Grassroots Cafe on Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Surrey campus on Sept. 24 from noon to 2:00 pm.
The movie night will feature four movies selected by Art With Impact, an organization that aims to promote mental wellness by creating spaces for people to learn and connect through art and films. They will also lead a breathing exercise and body scan workshop for students.
“There is a lot of stigma that makes students feel isolated and ashamed to talk about their pain and struggles with their mental health and well-being. We want students to feel more connected to themselves and each other,” Selina Maedel, KSA Peer Support program coordinator, wrote in an email statement to The Runner.
Movies include the drama Esther & Sai by director Rosie Choo Pidcock which features two female immigrants in Vancouver facing unbearable homesickness before their first day of nursing school in 1976. The documentary be•long directed by Sideah Alladice, which highlights a Black woman’s 17-year battle with mental health, starting with a suicide attempt and ending in sobriety, will also be screened.
“Both [are] set in Vancouver and depict the experiences of moving and adjusting to a new home. Both films are also made by Vancouver filmmakers,” Rebecca Pontieri, managing director of Art With Impact, wrote in an email statement to The Runner.
The other two movies are surreal drama Plant People, by Jason Eksuzian and Kincaid Walker, featuring a supermarket cashier who is the lone person in a world of plant people, and Out Beyond by Salman Alam Khan, which explores the struggles of a 15-year-old boy who wants to follow his passion, but lives in a family that does not support his ambitions.
“[Both films] have themes of loneliness, separation, and finding a way to connect or to express your authentic self,” Pontieri wrote, adding she hopes students empathize with the stories and see some of their own experiences or feelings reflected in them.
“Our ultimate goal is that after the workshop, each student feels that they are more likely to seek support for their mental health.”
Lovlina Prasad, another KSA Peer Support program coordinator, wrote in an email statement to The Runner that they are “looking forward to listening to the stories and narratives of students from diverse cultural backgrounds.”
“We are motivated to host this event to bring in more awareness, connection, compassion, and empathy among the student community at KPU.”
At KPU, students can access support from the KSA Peer Support resource centre located in Birch 230 at the Surrey campus. Students can visit the office during drop-in hours throughout the semester or book an appointment online through their peer chat.
For more information, visit kusa.ca/ksa-peer-support/.
