Mental health has become the most discussed topic of the 21st century. The world has finally come to terms with the fact that we need more awareness and help to improve mental health & it is a problem that needs to be addressed worldwide on a large scale. Entertainment is an easy & popular medium to get the message across mass population & has always played a huge role in spreading awareness about various topics.
With this motive in mind, Manatarang, the biennial film festival organised by IPH (Institute for Psychological Health) was started in 2010. It is dedicated to the theme of mental health & is entering its 5th edition this year. The purpose of the film festival is to create more awareness about the psychosocial and medical aspects of mental health in the community. This year, Manatarang 2018 is arranged in a collaboration with Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School, Thane and the theme for this year is ‘Journey’. Organised as a two day film festival on 13th & 14th October, it will be showcasing best hand-picked documentaries and some award winning documentaries. This year’s themes of the documentaries will be:
Social change as reflected in ad films.
• Accepting non-conventional sexual preferences.
• Wedding knots! Nots!
• How to enjoy a movie: A session by 3 film critiques .
• Award winning short films chosen from the contest.
• Two documentaries with a salient message.

The session will also include the discussion about various mental health related topics with Dr. Anand Nadkarni and other prominent mental health professionals, media professionals, citizens & students.
IPH (Institute for Psychological Health) is an NGO working in the field of mental health since 1990. The primary goal of the NGO is to destigmatize the taboo of mental illness in the society. They work for the mental health conditions like schizophrenia, mood disorders, autism, etc. and also help people suffering from work stress, marital conflict, parenting challenges etc. To get more information about IPH & their services you can visit them at www.healthymind.org .