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The second annual HeadsUp Movie Awards, which encourage creative and proactive expression about youth mental health issues, are being launched by RTÉ Two Tube presenters Sinéad Kennedy, Stephen Byrne and Bláthnaid Treacy and students. The awards are organised by HeadsUp, a youth mental health promotion project run by Rehab, in association with RTÉ’s Two Tube. The aim of the awards is to encourage young people across the country to create their own 60-second movie to promote positive mental health stories around the theme ‘Let it Out’. The thought-evoking theme aims to inspire entrants to create positive mental health films and animations which will encourage young people to discuss their feelings and troubles before they reach crisis point.

Entries for the awards will be judged in two categories – under-18s and those aged between 18 – 25 years old – with a fantastic prize package of €1,000 on offer for the winning entry in each category as well as the opportunity to work-shadow one of thejudges – Emmy award-winning film director Dearbhla Walsh and fellow industry expert NickyPhelan, an animator with Brown Bag Films. They will be joined on the judging panel by Stephen Plunkett, Executive Producer, Young People’s Programmes, RTÉ and Collette Ryan, HeadsUp project manager. A shortlist ofentries will be drawn up by the judging panel and clips from each shortlisted entry will beshown on RTÉ’s Two Tube, with the public voting for their favourite film or animation.

Dearbhla Walsh commented “I am delighted to be involved with the HeadsUp Movie Awards as I believe that film and animation are fantastic ways of communicating emotions and feelings that people find difficult to communicate through words. Mental health is still one of the taboo subjects in Ireland, and we need totalk more about it so that any stigma attached to it is wiped away. Iwill be looking for entries that connect with the audience, have originality and illustrate the ‘Let it Out’ theme.”

Collette Ryan, Project Manager, HeadsUp, said “The HeadsUp Movie Awards are all about giving young people a chance to look at mental health in a positive way and promoting that image. The ‘Let it Out’ theme is based on encouraging people to let their feelings, thoughts and emotions out. We are looking for original, honest and engaging short films that have a strong, proactive and positive mental health promotion message which will reduce stigma around the issue and will encourage young people to be resilient and to seek support if they need it. Sometimespeople struggle to get out the words about how they are feeling and this is a great opportunity to express themselves.”

Sinéad Kennedy, Presenter, Two Tube said “We are delighted to be involved with the HeadsUp Movie Awards again this year as they are a fantastic opportunity for young people to raise awareness about an issue that they and their peers face every day. We’ll be showing the shortlisted entries on TwoTube so it’s a brilliant opportunity for someone to show their work to a national audience and to give mental health the attention it deserves.”

Entries for the awards can be made using any video recording device, including HD cameras and mobile phones. Closing date for entries is November 9th with the winners being announced in mid-December. For more information on the awards, to download the entry form and for full terms and conditions, log on to www.headsup.ie/movieawards.ie