The 10th of October is World Mental Health Day. This year’s official theme is “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change,” a theme that places lived experience at the heart of the conversation about mental health. At the same time, the BFI London Film Festival is taking place in venues across the capital, from 7 to 18 October. As a psychiatrist and a cinephile, I thought this was a good opportunity to bring the two together and look at seven films that explore mental health in very different ways, and discuss 9 films about mental illness. Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are countless films…