Open Secrets

As part of a pilot project working with the South Asian community in Harrow, North West London we have been introduced to a fantastic short film 'Open Secrets' which tackles the issue of mental health stigma in a South Asian family.

We held a special screening followed by Q&A session with the writer/director Azeem Khan at the Harrow Vue cinema on Tuesday 30 August, with a lively discussion about stigma and discrimination in the South Asian community afterwards.

Azeem Khan writer/director of Open Secrets – Personal Biog

Azeem first experienced bi polar disorder in his final year at university at Manchester, when the stress became too great. After his breakdown and recovery in hospital, he experienced first hand the stigma of mental illness, through certain family members and ‘friends’ who chose to try and hide the fact that he had a mental illness. In one case, after this first breakdown in 1988, he was told to “behave normally” at a dinner party for a visiting uncle from abroad by relatives, which was quite farcical looking back. This incident led to him making the film Open Secrets many years later, in 2008, which was loosely based on his personal experience. This film was commissioned by SHIFT, the anti stigma organisation set up by the Dept of Health, and produced through his film production company, Azko Films. It starred Saeed Jaffrey, the BAFTA nominated actor, and upcoming star Valmike Rampersad in the lead role of Sunil, the young manic depressive. It won Best Film at the 6th Buffalo-San Film Festival in London.

Azeem currently has a feature film screenplay called Secret Colours in development with a film producer. This film is about a young Asian Muslim man, Adam, with bi polar, and how he undergoes a terrifying breakdown, is “exorcised” by a holy man, and how he comes to terms with himself. He also has a couple of documentary projects, and a drama film, in development with TV producers on different topics to mental illness.