Personal Stories Shape Films at Reel Minds Mental Health Film Festival

Eight short films will  screen at NAMI Miami-Dade’s Reel Minds Mental Health Film Festival on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. (Photo courtesy of NAMI Miami-Dade)

For Iñaki Amechazurra and Billi Sarafina, filmmaking offers a way to tell stories drawn from difficult experiences in their own families.

Their films, “The Glass Child” and “Hard Conversations: Jayla and Malcolm,” are among eight works screening at NAMI Miami-Dade’s Reel Minds Mental Health Film Festival on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex.

“There is very little conversation on the topic,” says Amechazurra, whose film explores the experience of growing up with a sibling whose needs dominate family life.

The 28-year-old writer and director made “The Glass Child” as his bachelor’s thesis project in Miami Dade College’s film program. Like his main character, Ray, Amechazurra has an autistic brother and identifies as a “glass child,” a term describing siblings who feel overlooked as their families concentrate on another child’s needs.

In the film, Ray experiences abuse from his brother, Domingo. Amechazurra says his focus is on the parents’ responsibility to intervene.

Iñaki Amechazurra is the director of “The Glass Child,” which was chosen for the Reel Minds Mental Health Film Festival on Saturday, Oct. 10. (Photo by Britney Herrera)

“My goal is to give a voice to others like me who feel alone and unheard, so they can feel seen and understood when their families refuse to understand them.”

Familial relations are also central to Sarafina’s “Hard Conversations: Jayla and Malcolm.”

The piece is based on the writer and executive producer’s experience of being sexually abused by a relative when she was younger, something she said she believes is prevalent in the Black community.

“But just because something is common doesn’t mean it’s normal,”  says Sarafina.

A conversation between the title characters draws from one she had with her own partner, who was able to identify who her attacker was.

The film also examines the response to speaking out. Jayla faces criticism from relatives, as Sarafina says she did, but finds support in her relationship with Malcolm

Billi Sarafina’s “Hard Conversations: Jayla and Malcom” is based on the writer and executive producer’s experience of being sexually abused by a relative when she was younger. (Photo courtesy of Black Light Imaging)

“A lot of TV shows show couples in a negative sense. It is important to me to show a place where a woman feels safe, seen, heard, and protected,” she says, explaining that Jayla’s mother is imagined from a mix of Sarafina’s relatives, including her mother and grandmother. Shot in two days, the piece was produced with a budget of $500.

“I also like to show that great stuff can be made with close to no budget.”

The now 38-year-old Sarafina said that since the film’s release, other women have shared their stories with her. Sarafina plans to develop this into an anthology series.

Two awards will be presented at the Reel Minds film festival: the Chrysalis Award, selected by the festival’s jurors, and the Monarch Award, chosen by the audience.

Among the festival’s jurors are Rafal Sokolowski, who teaches directing and film production at the University of Miami and actress and mental health advocate Mädchen Amick. Her connection to NAMI started around 2012, when professionals recommended the nonprofit’s resources after her son was diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder.

Sokolowski believes that film is an effective vehicle for analyzing mental health because it invites viewers to be immersed in the world of the story.

“It places (the) audience in a unique position where they get to be observers and implicit witnesses,” says Sokolowski, who had more than 20 years of experience in filmmaking before also getting into academia. “Film is a mass media. It has the power of reaching broad audiences.”

A panel conversation at the 2025 NAMI Miami’s Reel Minds Mental Health Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of NAMI Miami-Dade County)

The lineup also includes “Charting My Brain,” a personal exploration of drawing and mental health; “Stage Frightened,” about a timid high school student whose theatrical ambitions are threatened by a mysterious figure; “Crying Laughing,” following two friends reflecting on a turbulent freshman year; “Making Unquiet,” which uses music and visual storytelling to explore bipolar disorder; “Rumination,” about a knight consumed by the need to perfect his sword; and “Midlife Crisis,” following a mountain guide’s struggle with depression and return to his passion after divorce and loss.

The festival pairs its screenings with two panels, “How Beautiful Minds and Beautiful Art Connect” and “Connections: Storytelling and Mental Health.”

“We want people to understand that even though the topic is mental health, this is an uplifting experience,” says Susan Holtzman, president and CEO of NAMI Miami-Dade.

WHAT: NAMI Miami-Dade’s Reel Minds Mental Health Film Festival

WHEN: noon, Saturday, Oct. 10

WHERE: Little Haiti Cultural Complex, 212 NE 59th Terrace, Miami

COST: General admission, $17.85; VIP, $135.23, including service fees.

INFORMATION: 305-665-2540 and Eventbrite for tickets

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