THE full line up has now been announced for the Shout London festival – which returns to the capital next week.
For 2023 the Irish-founded event, titled Shout London - The Ashford Place Mental Health Film & Arts Festival, which made its debut last year, will be led by Festival Presenter Peter Curran.
The Irish BBC Radio 4 broadcaster, writer and documentary maker has produced and directed numerous projects on Irish history, language and culture for institutions such as The Imperial War Museum and the BBC.
He is also co-host of the BBC Sounds comedy podcast, Bunk Bed.
Shout London Festival Director for 2023, Peter CurranThe festival takes place on Tuesday, October 10 and Wednesday, October 11 - to coincide with World Mental Health Day.
A series of events will be on offer across two venues, The Kiln Cinema in Kilburn High Road on day one and The Crown Hotel in Cricklewood on day two.
The theme for the 2023 Festival is neurodiversity and the event will open with a world premiere, organisers have confirmed.
“The opening film at The Kiln Cinema on Day 1 will be the world premiere of Ben Akers’ hard-hitting documentary Our Kids Our Lives,” they state.
“In this feature length documentary Ben, talks to parents, kids and experts and looks for solutions on how we can help our kids become mentally strong,” they explain.
“He tries to discover what we can do to help our next generation. From body image to self-harm and societal pressures in our expanding digital world.
“Ben explores the power of talking, because if we get this right, we can help young people manage their mental health not just for today but for generations to come.”
Elsewhere on the line up Maria Mcateer returns to the festival for a second year, bringing scenes from her one woman show The Guinness Girl, accompanied by Alice Beadle on the violin.
Maria McAteer is among the artists taking part in the Shout London festivalSobriety Films’ Maddie Kitchen will be screening her short film Say Something during the festival.
It was made during lockdown as a collaboration between the contributor, Niamh, who was 17 at the time, and director Maddie.
It explores the journey through alcohol dependence and mental ill health while navigating school.
There will also be poetry by Wendy Young and Ronald Amaze, as well as performances by singer songwriter Sacha Wood, whose songs often deal with mental health.
On Day 2 of the event s series of lively performance, screenings and Q&As continue at The Crown in Cricklewood, with the addition of an art and poetry display.
Two short films, Disordered and Control, both covering the subject of eating disorders, will be screened and then discussed with nurse Mandy Scott, who is the founder of the Personalised Eating Disorder Support charity.
There will be poetry by Janet Reeve and Joshua Nunn as well as a screening of Shells Without Echo, by Yasmine Nicholas, a multimedia artist who will also be displaying her art.
The final screening of the day will be Talk It Out, a music video by Neil Avery and Nigel Planer which will be followed by a discussion on neurodiversity with Avery and the mental health campaigner, Jon Salmon.
The final performance of the festival will be by Sean Kaluarachichi on the acoustic guitar.
Shout London - The Ashford Place Mental Health Film & Arts Festival takes place on Tuesday, October 10 from 3pm-8.30pm at The Kiln in Kilburn High Road and on Wednesday, October 11, the festival takes place at The Crown London in Cricklewood Broadway from 2pm-6pm.
The event ids free to attend but tickets must be booked here.
