SUICIDE PREVENTION

Here are a few examples of messages your film could communicate.

• Learn The Warning Signs: Pain isn’t always obvious, but most people show one or more warning signs, so it is important to know the signs and take them seriously, especially if a behavior is new or has increased and if it seems related to a painful event, loss, or change. If something feels off, trust your instincts! View this infographic to learn the warning signs or visit the Never a Bother campaign website.

• Don’t Keep Suicide A Aecret: It is okay to break a friend’s trust and share your concerns with an adult if you think your friend might be thinking about harming themselves.

• Find The Words To Start A Conversation: Asking someone “Are you thinking about suicide?” will not put thoughts of suicide in their mind.  In fact, asking this direct question is important.

• Help Someone Find Their Reasons For Living: There are steps you can take to support a friend that is thinking about suicide. One of the most important steps is helping them find their reasons for living and reminding them that pain never lasts, and you can get better together.

• Reach Out For Help: The film should encourage people to ask for help from a trusted adult or by calling a crisis line, for themselves or a friend.  If someone talks about ending their life, take them seriously and connect them to help. Remind them that they are never a bother.  Learn about crisis resources here.

Visit California’s youth suicide prevention campaign to learn about warning signs, steps to take to support a friend and what happens when you call 988 at www.NeveraBother.org.  Download flower graphics and more on the “Get Involved” page.

All films have to consider safe messaging guidelines for suicide prevention. (Not following these guidelines can cause you to lose valuable points.)

Provide a Suicide Prevention Resource
A key strategy to prevent suicide is to provide information about crisis and support resources.  You will be meeting this criteria by including the required end slate with 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, but you are welcome to incorporate resources throughout your film.  Find a list of resources here.

Do Not Use Statistics in Your Film
Do not use statistics and statements that portray suicide or a suicide attempt as something that happens all the time. It may seem compelling to get the audience’s attention by using statistics such as “a person dies by suicide every ‘x’ minutes or seconds”, or statistics that point to specific groups of individuals being more likely to die by suicide. However, presenting the data in this format makes suicide seem common and might encourage a young person already thinking about ending their life to believe, mistakenly, that suicide is a common and acceptable solution to the problems they are facing – which is not true!  

Statistics are a complex factor in creating safe suicide prevention messages, and including statistics about suicide will result in a significantly lower safe messaging score for your film in this contest, so we recommend avoiding them altogether.

Remember, this category is focused on raising awareness of prevention, not just convincing people that suicide is a problem.

Do Not Oversimplify The Causes Of Suicide Or How To Get Better. Suicide should not be framed as an explanation or understandable response to an individual’s stressful situation (e.g. a result of not getting into college, parent’s divorce, break-up or bullying) or to an individual’s membership in a group encountering discrimination. Oversimplification of suicide in any of these ways can mislead people to believe that it is a normal response to fairly common life circumstances. 

It is okay to talk about life problems that may increase a person’s risk of suicide such as family issues (divorce, abuse) or social issues (bullying, break ups). And to talk about these life problems as a possible contributing factor to why a young person might be feeling hopeless, drinking more or isolating themselves (which are warning signs for suicide), but the film should not point to just one of these events as the cause of suicide. The truth is that not one of these events causes suicide, usually a person is dealing with multiple tough situations and is showing warning signs.

Use Appropriate Language When Addressing Actions Related To Suicide. The suicide prevention community is trying to clarify the ways in which people refer to actions related to suicide. The more clear and respectful we can when speaking about actions related to suicide, the more we will be able to remove misconceptions that prevent people from getting support.

Additional Resources:

• Video:  Messaging Matters
• Website:  Action Alliance Framework for Successful Messaging
• Website: Preventing Suicide: A resource for filmmakers and others working on stage and screen”

Submissions that include this type of content, or deemed to contain inappropriate content, will be disqualified. 

The Film SHOULD NOT Include Portrayals Of Suicide Deaths Or Attempts OR Items That Could Be Used in A Suicide Attempt.  This includes, but is not limited to, a person jumping off a building or bridge, or holding a gun to their head). Portraying actions related to suicide attempts and showing items someone might use for a suicide attempt even in dramatization, can increase chances of an attempt by someone who might be thinking about suicide and exposed to the film.

Be Creative and Cautious:  There are other ways to demonstrate that someone is thinking about suicide without showing a weapon or other items used in an attempt. Can you convey the sentiment you are seeking without showing this? In general it is best to avoid showing images of ways people might attempt suicide, especially weapons. If you are considering showing items someone might use for a suicide attempt in your film, we strongly encourage you to think about the purpose and benefit of including this in your film.  

Considers Survivors of Suicide Loss:  In general it is best to avoid showing images of ways people might attempt suicide, especially weapons.  Also consider that showing images of items/ways people might harm themselves might also be disturbing to those who have lost someone to suicide. Remember, we are focused on prevention and the most important part is educating others about how to help. If you have any questions about this, please contact us.

Do Not Use AI.  The use of AI to create any part of your film (including but not limited to: script, background, editing, etc.) is not permitted and will lead to the disqualification of your film.   AI models are based on millions of images, including artists’ work, and therefore this is not considered to be original work. As artists, storytellers and filmmakers we ask that you act with honesty, integrity and respect as you create your films for this contest.

It is at the discretion of the program team to disqualify films that are deemed to have a potentially harmful message or image or that are not sensitive to racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation and gender differences, with all individuals realistically and respectfully depicted.

Although picking up someone’s books when they fall is a nice metaphor, it often takes more than “a simple act of kindness” to save a life.  Remember that many people don’t know how they should respond to someone who is having thoughts of suicide. Use this opportunity to educate young people and others about what to do, such as talking directly about suicide, seeking help from a trusted adult or calling the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Be Original!  For one, be inspired by winning films from the past, but don’t copy their ideas! Since the suicide prevention category talks a lot about warning signs, using actual “signs” as a metaphor is creative and a great way to communicate the warning signs, but we receive a lot of submissions with this approach.  Think about communicating the message in a way that will really connect with other young people.

Music Matters:  We receive a lot of entries that use the same music for their film.  When possible, explore adding original music to your entry and check out some of the resources on our website.

Know Your Stuff:  Check out these educational resources for more information about suicide prevention:

• Youth Suicide Prevention Website Never a Bother
• What Happens When You call 988 Video
• Suicide Prevention 101 Video
• Suicide Prevention How to Help a Friend Video

• I reviewed one or more of the educational resources to help with the script and storyboard for my film.
• My film communicates a message about suicide prevention that is hopeful and focused on what someone can do to help prevent suicide and/or reasons to reach out for help.
• My film is 60-seconds long
• My film includes the required endslate
• My film includes a title slide.  
• My film aligns with safe messaging guidelines and does not include statistics.
• My film does not portray a suicide death or attempt.
• My film does not feature items that could be used in a suicide attempt.
• My entire cast and crew is registered and submitted their signed release form.