TIMBA 2nd Canberra Mental Health Film Festival Fri 11th Tuggeranong

00:14:00 Nicabob (USA) 

Director Daneeta Loretta Jackson of the USA shares the tale of Nicabob, a one of a kind and also very lonely teenager. 

Nicabob seeks approval and understanding but is instead derided and bullied on social media. He learns to make a human connection once he shuts down his Youtube channel.  

00:10:00 Jump (UK) Director John Craig Howells 

Jump! is essentially about a man talking down a potential suicide  jumper off a bridge by pretending to also be a suicide jumper. He gets him to share his troubles as they sit in the cold night, and then convinces him that he really does have things to live for. It's about a man at the end of his wits, having had everything in his life gone wrong.   

00:19:00 Model Childhood  (UK) Director Tim Mercier, a searing portrait of his processing of an early experience of child sexual   abuse. Tim searches for the sites of his trauma and seeks a path through the past and back to the present with greater insight, compassion and understanding. The film features Claymation re-enactments that make dense and dark subject matter more approachable and intimate.  

 00:10:45 Alexandra (Can)

Canadian Director Michaela Grill  explores the ways in which a mindfulness mediation practice parallels and  intersects with an art practice. Alexandra is the name of the street in Montreal where the Director did a short 'residency'.   

00:15:00 The Gardener (UK)

Director Teresa McGee of Canada tells the tale of the arrival of a new  gardener, an old friend from high school, who motivates a young man suffering from agoraphobia to seek the treatment he needs.

00:44:00 Let Me Live My Life (Russia) 

Director Olga Averkieva tells a tale of love, loss and tragedy. Natasha, Kolya and Guerin have each been confined to a state mental institution. By virtue of this they are denied citizenship rights, the right to marry and the right to financial independence. The film follows the labyrinthine vocational and legal process they must go through to try and gain their rights. 

00:24:51 Happy Android (Australia) 

Australian director Jaina Kalifa brings the story of street performer Paul Cooper to life. Paul has a roving act, Tubby the Robot, which brings joy to other people yet he struggles to find joy within himself. Paul’s childhood was disturbed by a tragic family   accident and he now suffers from depression and anxiety. Often feeling disconnected and broken, he goes through the motions of life like an automated machine. Ironically, it is when Paul performs as Tubby that he feels the most functional, the most human. Paul and Tubby inhabit very different worlds – one full of sorrow and alienation, the other filled with  happiness and love. In this unique film the two worlds collide, leading to a poignant exploration of family, mental illness and the transformative power   of creativity.