Guyleigh Johnson is using her first film, Scratching the Surface to start a tough conversation. The spoken word artist, advocate, published author and now filmmaker is using her voice to raise awareness of mental health in the African Nova Scotia community.
Johnson grew up in Dartmouth, N.S. In 2016, she published her first book of poems, Expect the Unexpected followed by her second book, Afraid of the Dark. Both collections are reflections of challenges faced by Black youth. With Scratching the Surface, Johnson continues the theme of mental health struggles for the Black Nova Scotian community through film.
“A couple of years ago, I wrote an article … around the same topic,” Johnson says.
The response, she says, was an outpouring of “love and support” from people who said they could relate.
“I said to myself, ‘I definitely need a bigger platform to reach more audiences, especially if so many of us are feeling these familiar feelings.’”
Most of the short film centres on a group of African Nova Scotians taking part in a workshop, discussing mental health and the stigmas surrounding speaking out about it.
According to a 2020 report by Ottawa Public Health (OPH,) finding mental health support in the Black community can be layered with racism, intergenerational trauma and stigma. Cultural barriers and limitations in accessing affordable and diverse mental health support also make it harder to seek help.
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As an advocate for mental health, Johnson wanted to tackle this topic for her debut film when she was accepted into the Being Black in Halifax program offered by the Fabienne Colas Foundation.
“Being Black in Halifax was a great opportunity because it gives people like me, who would like to get their foot in the door (in terms of the film industry) a chance,” Johnson says. “It gives you that platform to create the kind of stories that you would like to see within the world, which is good because representation is so important.”
Being Black in Halifax gives emerging filmmakers an opportunity to address the issue of social integration of people from Black communities in the city through film. Participants present their films as World Premieres at the Toronto Black Film Festival, followed by the Halifax Black Film Festival, the Ottawa Black Film Festival, the Calgary Black Film Festival, the Montreal International Black Film Festival, and the Vancouver International Black Film Festival.
“Throughout this process, we had so many mentors, so many sessions about film and the ways in which we can try and convey these messages and tell these stories,” Johnson says about the Being Black in Halifax program. “So it really has been a great experience; I’m truly grateful to have been able to be accepted into that program.”
“Scratching the Surface” debuts during the sixth annual Halifax Black Film Festival. Tickets for the event are available now through the Halifax Black Film Festival website. Audiences attending the virtual festival can enjoy short films, documentaries, full-length feature films from Halifax filmmakers and beyond. There are also virtual panel discussions offered through Halifax Black Film Festival’s Facebook page with topics related to film, media, diversity and equity.
READ MORE: Halifax Black Film Festival returns with record-breaking number of films
“It’s a record number of films,” says festival founder Fabienne Colas. “And each time you buy one ticket or pass, it is really a support directly to the artists participating at this festival.”
The Halifax Black Film Festival runs Feb. 24–27 and is presented by TD Bank Group in collaboration with Global News.
For more information on the festival, visit halifaxblackfilm.com.
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