Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald is working on a crowdsourced film project telling the real story of the world’s collective mental health.
I Hope this Helps comes from the team behind Macdonald’s Life in a Day, which they describe as the “largest mass-participation feature film in history.”
For I Hope this Helps, charitable foundation Wellcome has asked people to send in footage documenting the realities of their mental health journeys. The film hopes to match the scale of Life in a Day but with “a new social impact objective at its heart.”
Whitney director Macdonald recently struck a multi-project deal with Banijay and has also made social issues docs such as ITV’s It Takes a Flood.
He said I Hope this Helps will capture the “raw, personal experiences of individuals from all walks of life.”
“The world has faced an extraordinary period of uncertainty and upheaval, and mental health has emerged as a major issue that affects us all, directly or indirectly,” he added.
Jack Arbuthnott, a former Scott Free producer who is co-directing I Hope this Helps, said participants will be “joining a community of people who want to change the world through sharing their personal experience.”
Leading mental health organizations including United for Global Mental Health are supporting the project and more than 100 grassroots organizations are actively involved in the search for contributors.