Here's a simple, stark fact: Scotland has the highest suicide rate in the UK, particularly amongst young men.
Mental health is simply something we have to discuss, something we have to talk about, in order to help people around us open up, to provide support for those who need it.
New documentary We Are All Here is part of this. The film focusses on Calum 'Lumo' Barnes, an incredibly talented Glasgow rapper who took his own life in 2017.
Directed by Hannah Currie, it's a gripping, moving, and vital watch, with We Are All Here set to gain a Glasgow film premiere at Saint Luke’s on Sunday (February 10th).
The film will be followed by a Q&A with the director and contributors, hosted by journalist Jonathan Rimmer, while there is also a Mental Health Music Symposium featuring Loki in conversation with Muslim Alim, with Psychologist Simon Stuart and DJ Steg G.
Hannah Curie comments: “I can’t wait for the Glasgow premiere of the film. It is shot entirely in Glasgow so it feels fitting to bring it home. It will be a privilege to watch it with so many of Lumo’s friends and fellow rappers – it will be a hugely emotional evening but I don’t think we’ll ever replicate that atmosphere ever again, and I’m really delighted to have performances by rappers who knew Lumo personally.”
“His death has hit the hip-hop community really hard in Scotland and collectively we want to take his story and make sure it reaches people it needs to reach. Too many young men are still dying by suicide and we are determined to keep the conversation going and end mental stigma so that more people feel able to open up about their struggles.”
The film closes with a song called 'We Are All Here' – initially penned as a poem in the aftermath of Lumo's death, it was written by hip-hop MVCC and then turned into a full piece of music.
Even alone it has a rare power, a stark tale of loss that also finds the inner strength to continue. MVCC explains…
“I wrote the song halfway through the making of the documentary, it originally started as a poem when Calum ‘Lumo’ passed but halfway through we turned it into a song. I myself am currently going through diagnosis with my mental health and a lot of anxiety and self-reflection happened whilst making the documentary. I was in an environment where people were going through the same things, and it became the reason I ended up going to the doctors. It feels like losing at first but winning at the end.”
Tune in now.
We Are All Here gains its Glasgow premiere on Sunday (February 10th).
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