Colourfest, in partnership with Victorian Transcultural Mental Health, was pleased to host Migrating Minds: a forum on mental health within CALD migrant communities at the State Library of Victoria (SLV) on 26th March 2015.
With tickets sold out within minutes of each release, it's clear that a lot of people are ready to talk about mental health in immigrant communities. We viewed 6 stories - two from 'Our Voices', two independently made films and two from 'Finding Our Way'. The short films were a collection of stories told by those experiencing mental health issues as well as from the perspective of relatives/carers. Six of these short films have been produced by Multicultural Mental Health Australia (MHiMA) and Victorian Transcultural Mental Health. We also have one international short film produced by a second-generation Vietnamese-American who shares their experiences with Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Akeemi and Maria from the Finding Our Way project were there to talk about creating their digital stories and share their wisdom about tackling issues, personally and within their families, and being empowered by art. We also heard from a carer, Leyla, and other panellists, Munira, David and Ruth each with their own perspective on mental health, family, finding the confidence to speak up, discrimination and creating services that work for everyone.
This event was supported by Kultour and the State Library of Victoria. It is funded by the Victorian Multicultural Commission. Migrating Minds Forum is a great initiative held in Melbourne addressing Mental Health issues in Migrant Communities.
