CHENNAI : Taking care of patients with severe mental illness requires great strength of body and mind. To honour those who go beyond their call of duty in helping such people, the Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) presented the MAITRI Awards 2012 on Thursday.
Caregivers of seven persons with mental illnesses were chosen for the award this year. Mayor of Chennai Corporation, Saidai S Duraisamy distributed the awards. Founder of SCARF, Dr Saradha Menon was also present.
Dr Sudha Seshayyan, Director, Institute of Anatomy, Madras Medical College, announced the theme for a short film competition to be held later this year. The fifth edition of ‘Frame of Mind’, a short film competition on mental health conducted by SCARF, will be held from September 28 to 30. This year’s theme will be ‘Mental Health in Daily Life’.
Entry to the competition is free and films should be of five-minute duration maximum. They can be in any format such as drama, documentary, docudrama, or animation. English is the preferred language, although other language films with English subtitles are also welcome, say the organisers.
Shortlisted entries will be screened to a jury of media and mental health experts, who will choose the best of the lot. Cash prizes of up to one lakh are up for grabs, and all shortlisted films will be screened.
To encourage well researched presentations on mental illnesses, SCARF also announced awards for media persons. The SCARF Media Awards, instituted this year, will honour the best written article on mental health related issues, published in India in the year 2012. The article should be not less than 250 words, and can be in any language. Last date for entries is January 2013. The awards will be announced in February 2013. For further details, log on to www.scarfindia.org or call 04426153971 or 04426151073.