Hoping to dispel the stigma surrounding mental health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Miami-Dade County is presenting its Sixth Annual Reel Minds Film Festival on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Little Haiti Cultural Center.
With 93 global submissions, a record number for the festival that began in 2016 (the festival was on hiatus from 2020 to 2023 due to the pandemic), according to organizers, nine were chosen for Reel Minds and several have a Miami/South Florida connection.
One of the films will walk away with the Chrysalis Award, a first this year.
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“We had a higher number of submissions than ever before, from all over the world and we saw very high-quality cinematography and sound. This is also the first year we are presenting the Chrysalis Award, and we are extremely excited,” said Susan Holtzman, NAMI president and chief executive officer.
Fans of the film festival were also instrumental in bringing it back after its lengthy hiatus, said Kate Edelson, Director of Fundraising and Special Events at NAMI Miami-Dade.
“Our film festival is back by popular demand. People that we knew who had attended had been asking when we would bring it back. Our fans were wearing our T-shirts from past festivals to our events and some of these people are even now on our festival committee,” she said.
Miami/South Florida Connection
Amanda Mandii and Victoria Perry “Someone Loves You”
Co-Writers and Co-Directors Amanda Mandii and Victoria Perry’s “Someone Loves You” is a story that “focuses on authentic, untold cultural stories that shed light on mental health in diverse communities,” said Mandii.
Mandii, a first-generation Jamaican with South Florida roots whose family lives in South Florida and Perry who is of Mediterranean background and lives in Aventura and has family in Broward. Both are born and raised in New York and have been friends for over a decade.
“We have creatively collaborated on other projects, but this is our first film together. We began writing this film in 2019 over Zoom with us confiding our personal mental health stories to each other,” said Mandii. “We confided and vented, taking our time over the next few years working on it like an hour a week, writing and re-writing. It took us between three and four years.”
Mandii’s father is Afro-Cuban, and her mother is Jamaican and although the film is fictional, she and Perry both put bits and pieces of their family into it. “I have a family member with schizophrenia and Victoria also has mental health in her family tree, so we both put a lot of our history into the film’s subject matter and plot,” said Mandii.
They filmed it in August 2024 after crowdfunding, and we completed the short film in three days, while the editing and post-production took 10 months then hit the film festival circuit winning an award at the Essence Film Festival in July.
“It has been rewarding for audience members to approach us after the film and burst into tears, which shows that it is so important that we have created this space. Our hope was always that it would resonate with people. It was healing and cathartic for both of us to get this done,” said Perry.
Sam Evans, director of “Will Martin”
UK-born Pompano Beach resident Sam Evans has lived in South Florida for more than two decades and is Creative Director at Diadem Sports as well as a professional photographer, videographer, and multimedia content creation. “Will Martin” is his first film, a project that grew from a connection at Diadem Sports.
In his film, Evans tells the story of Will Martin, a young man who overcame depression through pickleball, where he found a community to connect with that helped make him resilient and overcome his condition.
Martin’s Dad played a huge role in helping him overcome his depression, encouraging him to play pickleball and becoming part of that community. That story was shared with a Diadem Sports sales representative who, in turn, shared the inspirational story with Evans.
“Through my work with Diadem, I got to know Will and his father. Eventually, Will designed the cosmetics for his own pickleball padel inspired by the ones we sell. We took his design and created a custom-made padel for him,” said Evans.
They now sell Will Martin-designed paddles on the website and partial proceeds from those sales go to Side Out, the Martin Family Foundation.
“Will Martin” became the first in a series of short films that tell a similar story of how sports and community can help people find hope in a time of darkness.
“Our films show how you can overcome a battle with mental illness through sports and community building. Through these films we want to show people struggling can find hope,” Evans said.
Evans and his crew flew to Kentucky and filmed at a property near the Martin family home. The result was the 12-minute film that, after the blessing of the Martin family, was released on YouTube.
“Eventually, my boss at Diadem, who had heard about the Reel Minds Festival, encouraged me to submit the film and I was so thrilled to be chosen,” said Evans.
Antwon Lindsey, Emcee of Reel Minds Film Festival
Miami native Antwon Lindsey, born and raised in Liberty City, a Northwestern High School graduate and director of the film “Hush,” returns this year as emcee. Lindsey is known for films that address mental health in the Black community.
His film “HUSH,” which stands for “Help Us Say Help,” is a documentary that he created for personal reasons, according to Lindsey, and about mental health issues that affected his family. Although he says the “idea that woke me up in the middle of the night in 2017 when the idea of this film started ruminating,” it would not be until 2022 that the film would debut at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex.
“It continues to be shown at universities and by organizations as an example of mental health in the Black community. It also was shown at last year’s NAMI National Convention,” he said.
“Becoming Master of Ceremonies for Reel Minds was a collaborative effort with Susan and Kate, a conversation we began back in 2023,” said Lindsey. “Kate and I spoke about structuring the film festival in a certain way. It was a collaborative effort and a way of me supporting the organization’s mission.”
Now a Fort Myers resident, Lindsey looks forward to being back in Miami and “being present and available in Miami-Dade County again. Miami is becoming more fast paced every day, so it is important to have this festival as a reminder for people to take care of themselves mentally and physically,” he said.
Rafal Sokolowski, Chrysalis Award Judge
Professor Rafal Sokolowski, program director, MFA in Motion Pictures, at the School of Communications at the University of Miami, was thrilled when festival organizers reached out to him about judging.
“This is my first time as a judge and the invitation came across my desk because a couple of my University of Miami film students submitted a film last year and through them, I was connected to Susan,” said Sokolowski.
In his own film work, Sokolowski has dealt with issues of mental health, so judging was a great fit. “I also felt a large university like the University of Miami has a responsibility to engage in this type of work,” he said.
The judges reviewed nine films, then decided which would receive the first Chrysalis Award of excellence.
“We watched the films, compiled our notes, met as jurors to share our thoughts, all the while following the festival organizer’s very well-articulated guidelines,” said Sokolowski. “We looked at quality of storytelling and filmmaking, accurate representation of mental illness and the kind of messaging the films present.”
Sokolowski found it to be a rewarding and eye-opening experience and an opportunity to be part of a diverse group of judges from diverse backgrounds.
Holtzman and Edelson are excited for this year’s festival, saying they and “the jurors were impressed by the film submissions. It shows our festival is growing in scope, reach and legitimacy.”
WHAT: Reel Minds Film Festival, presented by National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
WHERE: Little Haiti Cultural Complex, 212 NE 59 Terr., Miami
WHEN: 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25.
COST: $15, click here to purchase
INFORMATION: namimiami.org/2025-reel-minds-film-festival/
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