VIK Film: ‘Carly’s story’
In the second of the VIK project's films about stigma 'Carly’s Story' tells the tale of a young woman’s struggle to find employment. Not only is she dealing with today’s recession and shortage of jobs, but also with the stigma of mental health.
The story follows Carly’s journey from beginning discharged from hospital and attempting to settle into everyday life. Her routine is immediately interrupted by a letter informing her of a change in the Benefits System. Carly wants to work, but the film takes you through the overt discrimation she faces at interview and the unhelpful comments her situation elicits from some of her friends.
The journey of making ‘Carly’s story’ was an incredible and rewarding experience, not only for me, but I hope for all of the people who gave up their time to make the film come to life. Young people from the Young Minds VIK project acted, directed, project managed and wrote the script. They also recruited the support of friends and family to act and support the production.
Everyone involved in making the film worked diligently to ensure that all tasks were completed. They overcame many of the challenges of making a film with a clear message; dealing sensitively with issues relating to changes in the benefit system, inequalities and oppressive behaviour.
Day two of filming was a long and emotional day. The lead actress who played the role of Carly put so much of herself into the role of making the character real, drawing on her own experiences to make the character believable.
We would like to thank Billy Lockett for allowing us to use his song “Hold on hope,” and Max Sycamore for his patience and support in seeing this project through to the end. Last, but not least, I would like to thanks all VIK’s, young people, staff, family and friends for their tireless effort and support.
You can watch Carly's Story here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJQHrlIkzIM&list=UUBrcD2CYLBN8v9c7fxRqQAw&index=2&feature=plcp
