Pembroke Taparelli's Annual Film Festival
PTAFF 2026
Healing In Community
Stories, Art, and Movement for Mental Wellness
A Festival for Art Connection and Collective Care
Mental health touches every family, every creative community and every neighborhood. Healing in Community creates space for stories that are too often ignored, conversations that are too often delayed and artistic experiences that help us see one another more fully.
Across three days, audiences will experience youth and independent films, filmmaker conversations, a visual art exhibition, dance, industry and community panels, an awards celebration and a closing community healing activation. The program balances honest exploration with hope, creativity, practical resources and pathways toward continued connection.
Three Days of Stories Dialogue and Healing
Stories Art and Movement for Mental Wellness
Friday November 6 Youth Voices and Opening Night
The festival opens with emerging storytellers and expands into a full day of film, civic dialogue, art and celebration. Friday includes the Youth Film Screening, two competitive film blocks, a community conversation on autonomy and crisis intervention, an Artivists United presentation, the Opening Night Mixer and Art Exhibition Reception, and an Opening Night film with conversation.
Saturday November 7 The Artist the Mind and the Work
Saturday examines creativity, identity, career pressure and mental wellness through competitive films, industry dialogue, curated mental health films, visual art and movement. Stay for the full day or build your experience around the film blocks, panels, dance performance and evening spotlight screening.
Sunday November 8 Healing in Community
Sunday centers community care, reflection and a hopeful close. The day brings together films, public dialogue, mental health resources and recognition of artistic excellence. Following the awards, the festival concludes with a shared healing experience designed to help audiences process, connect and move forward together.
Agenda
Friday Schedule
10:00–11:00 AM
Arrival, registration and youth welcome
11:00 AM–12:30 PM
Youth Film Screening - Kids In The Spotlight
12:45–2:00 PM
PTAFF Competitive Film Block I - Short Film Block 1 - Young Voice New Possibilities
Mr. Advocate (Feature), Miss Arlene, Something Pointless, Barika Rising,
Education, Friendship, Creativity, and support for young people
2:30-4:10pm
The Cost Silence Breaking the Generational Curse of Silence - sexual violence against
Black women and girls
3:00–4:00 PM
Community Panel 1
When Help Is Refused: Autonomy, Family, Crisis & the Ethics of Intervention
4:15–6:00 PM
PTAFF Competitive Film Block II - Hidden Wounds Off-Screen, Trading Cards trauma,
memory, and the need to be heard
6:00–7:00 PM
Artivists United Presentation
6:30–8:00 PM
Opening Night Mixer + Art Exhibition Reception
8:00–10:00 PM
Opening Night Film + Conversation
Saturday Schedule
10:30–11:00 AM
Doors Open + Art Exhibition Coffee/check-in; Art Exhibition available throughout the day
11:00 AM–12:25 PM
The Theft feature-length documentary that delves into the messy relationship between museums and
conflict, revealing how the preservation of a country’s culture in a museum can often come at the cost of justice.
12:30–1:35 PM
The Weight of Expectation Sonography - son preference and its effects on women and families
1:00-2:15
Entertainment Panel 1
The Cost of the Spotlight: Mental Health, Suicide Prevention & the Working Artist
1:45–3:00 PM
PTAFF Competitive Short Film Block II Art That Builds Community Black LP, Minds of Mind, All for the
Money, The Sight Unseen - Art, History, Memory, and Connection
3:10–5:10 PM
PTAFF Competitive Short Film Block IV Care Before Crisis Say Her, Substance Abuse and Addictive Behavior in Teenagers -
Mentorship, Youth Mental Health, and Early Support
4:00–5:15 PM
Entertainment Panel 2
What We Put on Screen: Mental Health Storytelling, Representation & the Duty of Care
5:15–7:15 PM
PTAFF Competitive Short Film Block V Women Life Freedom: Who Get to be themselves
Uniformed, Us, Never Merciless - Identity and Expression Under Institutional Pressure
6:30–8:00 PM
Networking Mixer
8:00–9:00 PM
Dance Performance
Movement as medicine; company/performers TBD
Sunday Schedule
11:00–11:30 AM
Doors Open + Art Exhibition
12:00 –1:00 PM
Brunch/Voices with Impact Film Screening Selected curated films + conversation
1:15–2:15 PM
Community Panel 2
Before the Breaking Point: Building Community Mental Health Before Crisis
3:00–4:30 PM
Closing Competitive Film Program Short Block VI - Going Off Script - Enjoy Your Visit, Adidas Owns the Reality, Misery and Other Choices -
Artists and Activists Disrupting Accepted Narratives
4:45–5:45 PM
Awards + 10th Anniversary Recognition
Competitive awards, juror/partner recognition and anniversary remarks
6:00–7:00 PM
Community Healing Activation
The festival’s final shared experience: facilitated reflection, artistic practice, resources and collective closing
Public Forum
Conversations That Matter
Friday at 3:00 PM
When Help Is Refused Autonomy Family Crisis and the Ethics of Intervention
Families often watch a loved one deteriorate while struggling to understand when and how the law, clinicians or courts can intervene. This conversation examines the space between doing nothing and coercive hospitalization, including voluntary engagement, crisis response, grave disability, Assisted Outpatient Treatment, CARE Court, psychiatric advance directives, conservatorship and individual rights.
Saturday at 1 PM
The Cost of the Spotlight Mental Health Suicide Prevention and the Working Artist
Artists work inside industries shaped by rejection, irregular income, public scrutiny, intense schedules and emotional exposure. This panel examines the conditions that can place creative professionals under strain, meaningful prevention and support, and protections for actors portraying traumatic or emotionally complex material.
Saturday at 4 PM
What We Put on Screen Mental Health Storytelling Representation and the Duty of Care
Mental health stories can increase empathy, but they can also reinforce stigma or reduce people to diagnoses. Presented with the Voices With Impact film block, this discussion brings creative and mental health voices together to consider responsibility in both the story and the process of making it.
Sunday at 1:15 PM
Before the Breaking Point Building Community Mental Health Before Crisis
Many people first encounter the mental health system only after a situation becomes an emergency. This community-centered conversation asks what earlier care should look like, including culturally responsive services, peer support, family education, youth services, housing stability, substance-use support and pathways that do not begin with police or an emergency room.
