Photography Winners

1st Place
Tara Fleur ‘Woman of Bones’, London, United Kingdom

“Dirty Little Pig”
A self-portrait, part of my on-going project ‘pig woman’. Here I am displayed as a butchered pig. Why, because after the sexual abuse, I felt like I was no longer human – like an animal, discarded & dirty. The pig became an archetype I identified with; the image of a creature man-trapped in its own filth & misery. This feeling settled inside me, and the more I tried to understand the abuse the more I could only see myself as that ‘dirty little pig’ dehumanised in my own emotional shit & shame. 

“From the Depths”
From the Depths is a series of self-portraits printed on the inside surfaces of my antidepressant boxes.

I found the strength to begin shooting it right from the depth of a depressive episode. Photography helped me stay grounded.

Already in remission, I created the final image in the series — the brightest one. Today, after 2,880 pills and 268 hours of psychotherapy, I once again feel that I want to live.”

3rd Place shared
Rachelle Van, Brisbane Australia

“Flesh In Flux“

This series explores the experience of my brain surgery, through visualisation of my sleep paralysis during the recovery. Facing the discomfort in fear became central to my healing from medical-based PTSD.

 
Ultimately, this is a study of flesh in flux—a body caught between terror and trust, between rupture and repair. The images invite viewers to sit within the discomfort, to confront the ways in which trauma lingers and morphs, and to consider the journey required to piece oneself back together. 

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Short Film Winners

1st Place
Sofia Xoulidou, Ioannina Greece

“Unbond”

”Unbond” is a visceral, experiential journey through mental illness. Like hands searching for light through shadows and movement through binds, it traces the struggle, the hesitation, and the fragile rediscovery of freedom. The work embodies persistence, vulnerability, and the courage to reach for help, inviting viewers to feel, empathize, and witness the delicate dance between isolation and connection.

2nd Place
Dorottya Johanna Fejes & Sarolta Hainrikffy, Budapest Hungary

“Spiral“

For many, the spiral is not just a geometric shape, but a way of life. We can’t see the end of spirals, we get twisted into them, they absorb us. The spiral is a winding road in the head of a person with ADHD, consisting of lost and rediscovered thoughts, full of tiny ants, hiding the slope of various addictions, a haste for the ability to concentrate.
The film was made by two friends who, although they are complete amateurs, are happy to throw themselves into the realization of their ideas.

3rd place
Jacques Derosena, North Hollywood USA

“Franklin”
A haunting exploration of abandonment and mental illness, Franklin delves into the lonely, fractured mind of a man shaped by a childhood of loss and the relentless grip of schizophrenia.

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Music Winners

1st Place
Chris Carlsen, Canberra Australia

“Tomorrow Morning”

Three scenes of depression. A ponderous, heavy-rock dirge.

1. Young and alone in the share house
2. In adulthood, drinking and drugging with the girls
3. Middle aged, homeless and sleeping rough with strangers

2nd Place
Gemma-Anne Curry, Castle Cove Australia

“Altered Realities”

My deeply personal composition was born from my profound experiences as a young carer of my sister Amber who navigates life with psychosis. At the core of Altered Realities lies the constant, shifting nature of perception my sister experiences – the profound sense of living between ‘her’ reality and ‘our’ shared one. This duality is embodied by two distinct instrumental forces: the warm, often solitary voice of the French Horn, and the intricate, sometimes dissonant tapestry of a String Quartet.

3rd Place
Alla Ma, Margaret River Australia

“Vicci Lady”

Vicci Lady is a song about losing my mother to mental illness at fifteen years old when she was only forty-one. I share the ripple effects of PTSD, and the depths of beauty within the madness and a legacy left behind.