Carry Less: A Film Presentation on Men's Mental Health

Two short films and an honest conversation about what men carry, and what it means to set some of it down. Alexandria, VA. Presented by Finding Inspiration Foundation in collaboration with Mentally Shredded and Cowo & Crèche. Most men learn to carry it alone. The pressure, the silence, the weight of holding everything together until holding it becomes the whole job. Carry Less is a night about what happens when you stop. We're bringing two short films to Alexandria, paired so one leads into the next: Enough, by Christopher Weedon of Mentally Shredded. A micro short about the moment you realize the voices running your life were never really yours, and the choice to take your voice back. The Vow, by Finding Inspiration Foundation. A men's mental health short film about what it costs to carry everything alone, and what becomes possible when you don't. The Vow premiered in Charlotte this June to a packed house, where audiences rated its impact 4.8 out of 5 and left more open to talking about mental health than when they walked in. After the films, we'll stay in the room for an honest, unscripted conversation. No formal panel, just real talk about what we saw and what it stirs up. Moderated by Christopher Weedon, founder of Mentally Shredded, with Finding Inspiration Foundation founder Andrew Smith and voices from the local community. Local mental health organizations will be on site, so the support in the room doesn't end when the lights come up. In 2022, Virginia lost 1,211 people to suicide. Roughly 80 percent were men. Nights like this exist because the silence around that number has to break somewhere, and it might as well break together.