Film

A Calmer Place

A wild swimmer tells the story of his struggle of dealing with his mental health during the lockdowns.
 
A Calmer Place | Lockdown brought an understanding of nature's tonic

About

Running time

7 minutes

Country / Nationality

UK

Our Judges say:

A nicely shot film about the power of open water swimming and it's positive impact on mental health.

Jimmy Hyland

Time to time we like to produce a passion project to feed the soul and push our creative capabilities. I was inspired to make this film after chat with an old friend, Rob Flood. He told me about the challenges he was facing during lockdown, coping with a young family, work and personal mental health. It resonated with me, as a family man myself and someone who was feeling the pressures of not being able to 'get out there' during lockdown. Rob told me how, during normal times he would spend time alone in the water to reset himself and get himself back to where he felt he needed to be mentally. We began pre production on this with the aim of highlighting the benefits of nature on mental well being and how important it is not to take for granted what incredible freedom we have to explore wild spaces. I hope that the message of mental health being strongly connected with nature and a gratitude for wild spaces is delivered in this film. Also I hope that viewers are left with the feeling of wanting to plan a trip out in nature somewhere to find their calmer place.