SUICIDE MENTAL HEALTH Awareness Short Film
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THE DRAGON DREAM
"Inspired by true stories, The Dragon Dream is a ten-minute narrative film that explores the great academic pressure placed on young people in Asian societies. The cultural imperative to succeed in school causes serious mental health problems, and the film’s mission is to shine a light on this issue"
Film Stills:
Imagine you are studying for your university finals exam, it's in a few days.
You see an article, "student jumps to her death days prior to exam", and you think gosh, poor girl, hope it doesn't happen to anyone else.
You are exhausted.
Suddenly, you receive a text message.
"Your best friend is on his way to the hospital, he tried to commit suicide."
So you go crazy.
You have no idea what happened, how or why this happened.
Because the best friend you know - he/she is happy, just a normal student who is always working hard in their room, just wishing to pass school exams.
And you cannot call or text your best friend for days because he/she is being treated in the psychiatric unit.
Filled with tears, sadness and pain, you manage to finish your exams and pass, and your best friend is luckily, fine, but is now seeing a psychiatrist and on anti-depressants.
2 years later.
You are studying for your university finals exam.
You are exhausted.
Suddenly, your classmate screams at you,
"Your other best friend is on the school rooftop right now, he won't leave"
So immediately, your stomach sinks, your heart drops.
Because what you felt familiar is happening again - yet to someone else so close to you.
And still, you have no idea why it is happening, there was NO WARNING.
BACKGROUND
During my 4 years of university studies in Hong Kong, I encountered many students - Asian males, in particular, that has signs of depression, are constantly stressed out and often have emotional breakdowns.
Spending one's early adulthood in such stress and anxiety simply does not make sense.
IT IS TIME TO STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN.
This short aims to raise awareness for students where mental health is still seen as, weakness, where students are afraid of 'losing face' by confronting their friends/parents about their feelings. It aims to spread the message to students that there is more to life than school and grades. And simply telling them that it's normal and that everyone also experiences the same feelings. Most importantly, it aims to raise awareness to this serious issue.
SHOCKING STATISTICS:
- AMERICA - The suicide rate for boys ages 15 to 19 grew by 30 percent from 2007 to 2015.
- Twice as many young men, ages 20-24, commit suicide, compared with young women. In teens, ages 17-19, the ratio is even more skewed, with suicide claiming nearly five times the number of young men.
- Young men are four times more likely to die from suicide than young women. However, in the same age range, females are more likely than males to attempt suicide.
- HONG KONG - my hometown has a population of just 7 million. Yet statistically, over half of the students and teachers show signs of depression, there were 75 student suicides in the year 2016 alone.
- SOUTH KOREA: Suicide is the fourth most common cause of death; on average, 40 people commit suicide every day
- JAPAN: More Japanese children and teenagers killed themselves between 2016 and 2017 than in any year since 1986, according to a new government report.
The latest survey shows 250 elementary and high school age children took their own lives in that year for a variety of reasons including bullying, family issues and stress.
(Stats from verywellmind.com, SCMP, CNN, BPR, WHO)
Team
Production
The short is going into production in March-April, post-production in April-May.
It took us 7 days to film everything in New York.
The short will feature an all Asian cast.
Campaign Goal
I am asking for a campaign goal of USD$2000.
I am lucky to have the kind support of 7 production crew members and is currently in search of 4 actors.
Equipment (for 4 days):
Monitors: $150, Light rentals, Light panels x4 : $800, Stands: $20, Gels
Sound equipment rentals:
Headphones: $20, Boom pole: $36, Mic: $106, Mixer: $102
= 1234
Food:
Average meal in New York: $10
1 day per crew member = $30 per person x 5 production crew, on average 2 actors per day = $210 per day x 4 production days
= $840
Total: 1234+840= $2074
This is just a rough estimate of cost, some costs not mentioned above:
- transport
- months of editing
- soundtrack
- props
If you are interested in helping out the short film, please kindly donate, or please feel free to email me for any other kind support you would like to offer us.
Thank you for your donation!
About Sophie:
New York-based Sophie Cheung is a photographer, filmmaker, and designer whose work is inspired by cinema and global culture. Her photography has appeared in numerous print and online magazines, including Vogue’s PhotoVogue “Best Of” feature. Cheung has photographed prominent models, musicians. Originally trained in architecture in her native Hong Kong, the photographer recently earned her Master’s in Digital Photography from New York’s prestigious School of Visual Arts. Her first short film, The Dragon Dream, explores the academic pressures placed on Asian youth, excerpts is being shown at SVA’s Gramercy Gallery in New York City.
Contact info:
Sophie (director): [email redacted]
Stephanie (executive producer): [email redacted]
"Inspired by true stories, The Dragon Dream is a ten-minute narrative film that explores the great academic pressure placed on young people in Asian societies. The cultural imperative to succeed in school causes serious mental health problems, and the film’s mission is to shine a light on this issue"
Film Stills:
Imagine you are studying for your university finals exam, it's in a few days.
You see an article, "student jumps to her death days prior to exam", and you think gosh, poor girl, hope it doesn't happen to anyone else.
You are exhausted.
Suddenly, you receive a text message.
"Your best friend is on his way to the hospital, he tried to commit suicide."
So you go crazy.
You have no idea what happened, how or why this happened.
Because the best friend you know - he/she is happy, just a normal student who is always working hard in their room, just wishing to pass school exams.
And you cannot call or text your best friend for days because he/she is being treated in the psychiatric unit.
Filled with tears, sadness and pain, you manage to finish your exams and pass, and your best friend is luckily, fine, but is now seeing a psychiatrist and on anti-depressants.
2 years later.
You are studying for your university finals exam.
You are exhausted.
Suddenly, your classmate screams at you,
"Your other best friend is on the school rooftop right now, he won't leave"
So immediately, your stomach sinks, your heart drops.
Because what you felt familiar is happening again - yet to someone else so close to you.
And still, you have no idea why it is happening, there was NO WARNING.
BACKGROUND
During my 4 years of university studies in Hong Kong, I encountered many students - Asian males, in particular, that has signs of depression, are constantly stressed out and often have emotional breakdowns.
Spending one's early adulthood in such stress and anxiety simply does not make sense.
IT IS TIME TO STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN.
This short aims to raise awareness for students where mental health is still seen as, weakness, where students are afraid of 'losing face' by confronting their friends/parents about their feelings. It aims to spread the message to students that there is more to life than school and grades. And simply telling them that it's normal and that everyone also experiences the same feelings. Most importantly, it aims to raise awareness to this serious issue.
SHOCKING STATISTICS:
- AMERICA - The suicide rate for boys ages 15 to 19 grew by 30 percent from 2007 to 2015.
- Twice as many young men, ages 20-24, commit suicide, compared with young women. In teens, ages 17-19, the ratio is even more skewed, with suicide claiming nearly five times the number of young men.
- Young men are four times more likely to die from suicide than young women. However, in the same age range, females are more likely than males to attempt suicide.
- HONG KONG - my hometown has a population of just 7 million. Yet statistically, over half of the students and teachers show signs of depression, there were 75 student suicides in the year 2016 alone.
- SOUTH KOREA: Suicide is the fourth most common cause of death; on average, 40 people commit suicide every day
- JAPAN: More Japanese children and teenagers killed themselves between 2016 and 2017 than in any year since 1986, according to a new government report.
The latest survey shows 250 elementary and high school age children took their own lives in that year for a variety of reasons including bullying, family issues and stress.
(Stats from verywellmind.com, SCMP, CNN, BPR, WHO)
Team
Production
The short is going into production in March-April, post-production in April-May.
It took us 7 days to film everything in New York.
The short will feature an all Asian cast.
Campaign Goal
I am asking for a campaign goal of USD$2000.
I am lucky to have the kind support of 7 production crew members and is currently in search of 4 actors.
Equipment (for 4 days):
Monitors: $150, Light rentals, Light panels x4 : $800, Stands: $20, Gels
Sound equipment rentals:
Headphones: $20, Boom pole: $36, Mic: $106, Mixer: $102
= 1234
Food:
Average meal in New York: $10
1 day per crew member = $30 per person x 5 production crew, on average 2 actors per day = $210 per day x 4 production days
= $840
Total: 1234+840= $2074
This is just a rough estimate of cost, some costs not mentioned above:
- transport
- months of editing
- soundtrack
- props
If you are interested in helping out the short film, please kindly donate, or please feel free to email me for any other kind support you would like to offer us.
Thank you for your donation!
About Sophie:
New York-based Sophie Cheung is a photographer, filmmaker, and designer whose work is inspired by cinema and global culture. Her photography has appeared in numerous print and online magazines, including Vogue’s PhotoVogue “Best Of” feature. Cheung has photographed prominent models, musicians. Originally trained in architecture in her native Hong Kong, the photographer recently earned her Master’s in Digital Photography from New York’s prestigious School of Visual Arts. Her first short film, The Dragon Dream, explores the academic pressures placed on Asian youth, excerpts is being shown at SVA’s Gramercy Gallery in New York City.
Contact info:
Sophie (director): [email redacted]
Stephanie (executive producer): [email redacted]
Organizer and beneficiary
Sophie Cheung
Organizer
New York, NY
Stephanie Hwang
Beneficiary
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