A film to be screened at Hoyts Charlestown on Wednesday night touches on an issue that was taboo in society for a long time.
When 15-year-old schoolgirl Mary Baker died by suicide, her parents were met with shame and stigma. Annette and Stuart Baker refused to be silent.
Filmmakers, newspapers and journalists were told for many years they had to be silent about the issue, too. Slowly but surely, the silence was broken.
Solstice the documentary tells the story of the Bakers founding the annual Winter Solstice event in Albury for survivors of suicide and people struggling with mental illness.
"It is held in Albury's town square on the shortest day of each year, as well as livestreamed across the globe," the film's director Helen Newman said.
The spirit of Mary was a strong presence in the making of the film.
"I thought about Mary all the time I was creating this film. I first got to know a little of her when I sat and talked with Annette and Stuart," Helen said.
"But when I was alone in the edit suite, I really felt like I got to know her. I did most of the editing myself, which means I spent countless hours pouring over photos and footage of Mary.
"I read her poetry, sifted through family photos and videos, played and replayed Annette and Stuart's interviews talking about her, went through the contents of her computer that held the last of her school work before she died. She was with me the whole time and still is, as the film screens."
Helen said the film is "a story of hope and determination".
"The film journeys into the lives of survivors of suicide, who step through their grief every day to fight for better mental health care," she said.
"Each person in the film knows intimately the immeasurable cost of our failing mental health system, yet each person also brings a surprising hope to the storyline of the film."
Since Mary's death, Annette and Stuart have dedicated themselves to breaking through the fear and silence around suicide.
"They are an unstoppable force determined to change the way we respond at a personal, community and policy level to mental ill health, suicide and those who have lost someone to suicide," Helen said.
They have travelled across Australia and the world, seeking to "change a system that they believe let their daughter down".
The Media's Role
Heath Harrison, a former Newcastle Herald editor, appears briefly in the film.
He suggested we not include him in this article, but his story reflects the wider issue.
As editor of The Border Mail in Albury, his team published Mary's story in 2012 - a time when newspapers were reluctant to raise awareness of suicide due to authorities warning against it. Editors and reporters had to find courage through the fear.
An upswell was building in communities across the globe to shed light on the darkness to inspire positive change.
"We'd been conditioned to think suicide was too hard an issue to deal with, but by averting our eyes it felt like the too-hard basket had become the easy option," Heath wrote in a 2014 article in The Walkley magazine.
"On Facebook and Tumblr, kids were talking about suicide, mental illness and self harm in terrifying detail. What were we achieving by ignoring it? We felt powerless and the families felt alone."
The story's front page headline was: "It's time to talk".
And, as we all know, it still is.
Lifeline: 13 11 14.
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