Nader Ibrahim and Jay Farnie Win Art With Impact’s Short Film Competition on Mental Health

San Francisco-based non-profit Art With Impact (AWI) has announced Nader Ibrahim and Jay Farnie’s film “Way Up, Way Down” as the winner of their monthly mental health-themed short film competition for March 2016.

San Francisco-based non-profit Art With Impact (AWI) has announced Nader Ibrahim and Jay Farnie’s film “Way Up, Way Down” as the winner of their monthly mental health-themed short film competition.

The film explores the experience of Sam, a young man who lives with the extreme highs and lows of bipolar disorder. Both Sam and his mother express what life with bipolar is like, as well as how lithium allows Sam to manage his condition.

“I think it’s really important that there’s a dialogue about these things, because it affects all of us,” says Ibrahim, who co-directed the film with Farnie. “Just by talking about it, you can be helping another person.”

Born and raised in Houston, TX, Nader Ibrahim has always had a great passion for telling stories through the lens of a camera. After graduating from the University of Texas with a degree in Radio-TV-Film, Nader has maintained a strong purpose in using his artistic crafts to help nourish the lives of the people around him. Nader lives in Houston, TX and his working on finishing his second home-produced music album under the name ‘Nader and the Trees’. For now, he has taken up two part time jobs as cameraman for PBS, while also teaching chess at elementary schools. His greater plan, though, is to continue creating films and music, while telling meaningful stories through his artistic crafts.

With the goal to remove social stigma through art, Jay Farnie left his hometown of Houston, Texas for Los Angeles, California. Currently working at Abso Lutely Productions, Jay continues to further his purpose, making both challenging dramatic and comedic content in the realm of short films, sketch comedy, and music videos.

Art With Impact’s monthly film competition awards one winning filmmaker a $1,000 cash prize for a film — up to five minutes in length and of any genre —that uses mental health as the point of interest. Film topics may either be interpretive of mental health, or address it directly. Winning films are added to AWI’s diverse OLIVE film collection, which is used in educational outreach programs.


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