"You're on Mute" - lockdown living films launched

"You're on Mute" - a series of films from rural communities documenting the impact of Covid-19 on mental health and wellbeing, resilience and community.

At a time when people in Scotland and around the world were living with restrictions, three small communities - in East Lothian, West Lochaber and Perth & Kinross - took part in a ‘Winter Lockdown Project’.

Running for over 7 months, the initiative was a collaboration between the mental health charity, Support in Mind Scotland, the Community Health Exchange (CHEX) and Public Health Scotland, that brought together partners from Haddington’s Support from the Start Network, Ewen's Room and Meigle and Ardler Community Development Trust. The ambition of the project is to ensure that lived experiences are reflected in the work that public health and community organisations in Scotland are doing to improve mental health and wellbeing across the population.

"You’re On Mute" was made as part of this project. The collection of films documents the experiences of twelve people from the three rural communities of living through the pandemic.

Artist Pam van de Brug interviewed people using online video and each person was also invited to share something of their lockdown lives using their own phone cameras. People were speaking following the winter lockdown, as they tried to maintain positive mental wellbeing and build resilience by finding ways to remain connected to friends, family and their local community. They were asked about their own and their communities’ experiences, what they thought they would remember from this time and what, if anything, they would like to be different post-lockdown. 

The final collection of films - twelve individual films and an overall film bringing the voices together - offer an exploration of the different, yet shared experiences. The films demonstrate how communities can come together in times of adversity to produce positive outcomes, and also highlight how our mental health is connected to our work, education, social support, income, housing and food.

Find out more about the project and watch the films at the You’re on Mute webpages.