The Happy Soul Festival

The Happy Soul Festival is London’s premier celebration of film and arts dedicated to creating awareness of well-being and mental health within the BME community, where these issues are often stigmatised.

The festival runs from March 26th-April 8th and Meera Syal (a patron of the festival), Saeed Jaffrey, Julien Isaac, Bollywood actress and social activist, Shabana Azmi (City of Joy and Fire) Angela Wynter and Richard Blackwood are just a few of the guests taking part in the event. There are over 22 films screenings and events, most of which have a mental health/depression buster theme and include; Johnny Mad Dog, Morning Raga, Secret Lives of Bees and Looking for Langston.

The 2008 national carried out by the Mental Health Act Commission, Healthcare commission, the Care Services Improvement Partnerships and the national Institute for Mental Health in England of all in-patients in NHS and independent mental health and learning disability hospitals and facilities in England and Wales, show that admission rates were three to five times higher than average among minority ethnic groups – particularly black Caribbean and Black African as well as Pakistani groups.