On October 17, 2022, MEHAR hosted our first mental health film festival MAFFA (Media Art Film Festival Awareness), with the help of a matching grant from the Advance Brampton Fund. The event was a resounding success, with over 170 attendees taking part in an awareness-raising and stigma-reducing journey. The audience represented diverse, multicultural groups and service providers from social service organizations across the Greater Toronto Area.

The event took place at Silver City Brampton Cinema and began with a moving speech from The Hon. Michael Tibollo, Ontario’s Associate Minister for Mental Health and Addictions. He spoke passionately about the need to divert more resources to mental health in Ontario and how, more than ever, mental health and physical health ought to be seen as being equal and interrelated. His support, words, and time were incredibly well-received and appreciated by the audience.

After the keynote address by Hon. Michael Tibollo, MEHAR, screened three short films created by Rekha Vaishnav and directed by Harpal Singh. The audience enjoyed MEHAR’s new short film “ In the Highs and Lows - I Am Still Me.” The film told the story of a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder and provided a moving insight into the reality of living with the condition. The Healing Journey is a short film which throws light on the challenges experienced by a young immigrant girl after struggling with a concurrent disorder. The final film shown was a documentary called Beyond my Unreal World - I Am Still Me, which educated the audience on schizophrenia in acreative, thoughtful, and engaging way.MEHAR also screened the guest entry directed by Blessing Alasan called Dear Immigrant - a film that told a love story between two immigrants to Canada that highlighted the complex relationship between migration, well-being, and quality of life for refugees.

MEHAR’s mental health expert, Dr. David Kantor, leveraged his extensive first-hand experience working with people who live with schizophrenia to answer the audience’s thought-provoking questions about the condition. Dr. Kantor received many questions from the audience, demonstrating a clear interest and desire to learn more from the attendees.

Rekha Vaishnav, the Executive Director and Creative Head, also spoke about her passion for MEHAR and what it stands for - and the journey the organization has been through since its launch, overcoming the challenges posed by the pandemic, launching new initiatives, and creating its first high-quality films to raise awareness about mental and emotional health topics.

MAFFA was more than just a film festival; it was a holistic experience. It provided attendees with a well-rounded, visceral insight into mental health conditions that often go underlooked, and it continued the conversation around mental health issues well after the event, providing attendees with a point of reference to refer to when discussing conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The quality of the films produced by MEHAR and directed by Harpal Singh gave a real multi-sensory learning experience for the audience. These films also portrayed the experience of people living with mental health conditions in diverse, multicultural communities- an experience that is often underlooked and neglected by mainstream films and media.

MEHAR is confident in getting requests to organize the screening of these films to ensure an open dialogue around mental health issues.

MEHAR has excelled in innovative and creative projects which utilized the power of art to create and promote mental health awareness. In the current year, we are very excited to announce that with the support of Advance Brampton Fund, we have undertaken an esteemed project: MAFFA (Media Art Festival For Awareness). This project will amplify our core program that delivers mental health education through theatrical presentations and film production on topics related to mental health and stigma. The success and appreciation of our last two years’ contribution in creating mental health awareness through art media have inspired us to set a new milestone in 2022. We will continue to create awareness and promote wellness through more effective forms of art while we recover from a global pandemic.

MAFFA will be a unique event showcasing media art (short films, digital creations, documentary and animation projects) created by artists and community members to inform the public on topics related to our mental, emotional and social well-being. The main event of MAFFA will be organized in the month of October and November 2022.

MEHAR has now embarked on the journey of creating our new documentary film on Schizophrenia for the upcoming mental health film festival, MAFFA. MEHAR’s artistic team has already completed the shooting on the sets created at Sampradaya studio in Mississauga. The documentary contains captivating scenes, monologues, poetry and expert narrations which will put a spotlight on living with schizophrenia. 



This documentary will be screened at the mental health film festival on October 17, 2022.