Screenwriter and director Angel Constantinou's debut, Boy, highlights challenging times for mental health care. Britain faces a crisis in youth mental health, including limited public resources for well-being support in schools. The new short film, Boy, in aid to Young Minds and Doitfordrayke, is a response to the impact of suicide among children and young adults in the age groups 10-24.
Angel Constantinou, a multi-talented artist born in Britain with Greek/Egyptian heritage, created a poignant short film based on some of her own real-life experiences, complemented by a compelling fictional storyline. Boy raises awareness about the challenges faced by this generation of children and young people growing up at a time of unprecedented turbulence and uncertainty.
The film is a dark and poetic journey through the lives and minds of two different boys. Both have complex family backgrounds and broken relationships with their parents. Constantinou perfectly depicts their youthful movement through life. They say time moves faster as you age, while it elapses slowly when you are younger. In Boy, the audience's perception of time slows down, thanks to the editing and cinematography of Reiko Nagayoshi.
Constantinou's complex childhood and more recent challenges as a full-time caregiver while balancing being a mother and her work as a live music artist are woven into the film storyline. We witness Sam - a child carer with a disabled mother, bullied at school by Rick. In turn, Rick's stepfather is a bully who physically abuses Rick while his mother stands by.
Boy is a short film that has a big impact. It shares the sometimes devastating reality of youth mental health struggles. It will be available to stream on Apple TV from 19 July.
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