*This is one of the featured films from the 2021 Changing Minds Young Filmmaker Festival. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal ideation, please seek help. You can speak to trained counselor today at Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741 or contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

BE is based on my journal entries. I had all of these thoughts and poems written down, and after having conversations about mental health with some friends, the idea came to me to take those entries and turn them into a script/short film. Making the film ended up being a form of therapy for me, and it turned out to be something so much greater than I ever thought those journal entries could be.

It just shows how being vulnerable and open about your feelings and experiences can help someone next to you who might be going through the same thing.

I hope BE reminds people that they are not alone. Even in your darkest times, when you feel like there is no hope left for you, just look up and remember that you are not in this fight alone. I want to encourage people with the truth that they are loved, their life is worth living, and that they matter, because those are the truths that I needed to hear when I was at my lowest. My hope for BE is that people feel heard, seen, and hopeful for the brighter times ahead.

So many people wrestle with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and other mental illnesses, and it’s a topic that our society is always hesitant to speak up about. Mental illness is not a weakness and people should not be ashamed of their struggles. Everyone has mental health and discussing it more regularly and openly will not only help break the stigma around it, but it will allow us to help one another and support those around us in whatever they may be going through.