UCA Illinois

There is a crisis in our community–and we need to talk about it.

 

Asian Americans endure some of the highest rates of mental distress, and yet, we’re also among the least likely to seek help for it. The stigma surrounding mental illness within our community, in conjunction with the discrimination and racial profiling we face outside of it, are all a part of what makes mental health an intersectional–and pressing–issue for Asian Americans.

 

Silent War: Asian American Reckoning with Mental Health is a full-feature documentary profiling multiple members of our community stepping up to share their own battles with mental illness. Their accounts highlight the unique challenges we face as Asian Americans and the unspoken toll it has taken on us. We need change, and that begins by telling our people’s stories.

 

We are uniquely positioned to produce a documentary with an immeasurable impact. UCA and our WAVES team has worked tirelessly with countless families in our community, earning their trust and being granted admission to their testimonies. The project is being led by a professor and award-winning filmmaker, Changfu Chang, who has produced a series of documentaries on identities and cultural issues. His recent releases include Ricki’s Promise–winner of several awards at prestigious international film festivals, and part of the Smithsonian Museum’s series on cultural identity in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in 2016–and Meet Me on the Bridge–a BBC documentary that was viewed by over 60 million people within several months after first it’s release on the BBC website.

 

PRELIMINARY GOALS

Our preliminary goals are fourfold:

● Completion of a full-length documentary (75-90 minutes)

● Completion of stand-alone short videos (4-5 minutes each) based on the interviews

● Creation of a comprehensive website with instructional materials (e.g., a study guide)

 

PROJECTED IMPACT/OUTLETS

This documentary will be used in a wide range of educational settings: it will be screened at conferences, workshops, in public libraries and community centers, as well as in classrooms at K-12 schools and colleges. A study guide with discussion questions will accompany the film.

 

The fundraising is broken into phases. This fund raising is for the Production Phase: about $150,000.  During this phase, the documentary features the stories of several families in New York, California, Illinois, and Maryland, and several other areas. It also includes interviews with experts, professionals (such as psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors), lawmakers, and community leaders. The budget will
cover equipment rental, compensations for a 4-member crew, travel costs, as well as misc. items. 

Your donation toward the production of the documentary would be instrumental to our project, the community, and the next generations of Chinese immigrant families. it will bring much-needed attention, especially now we are in post-COVID era to the mental health issues faced by Chinese immigrants in this country.

For more information, please check out our film website: https://silentwarmovie.com/