The legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns – who has chronicled everything from the Vietnam War to Lewis and Clark’s expedition to the history of baseball – is the executive producer of a new film he says may be his most important, because it will “save lives in the teen population.” Premiering Monday, June 27 and Tuesday, June 28 at 9/8c on PBS, Burns presents ‘Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness,’ directed and filmed by brothers Erik and Christopher Ewers.

The four-hour film is broken into two parts: ‘Out of the Storm’ and ‘Resilience.’ According to an article in The Wrap, in these two episodes, twenty-three brave young people openly share their experiences with mental health challenges and their path to hope and healing. Erik Ewers hopes the documentary will broaden public awareness of issues “most families never discuss.” The film is designed to help destigmatize mental health struggles, creating public awareness and engendering empathy.

“Not only is the illness often hiding in plain sight, but also hiding in plain sight is the solution – which is talking about it,” says Ewers. “Honest diaglogue really is the best option. Sometimes you don’t know that your best friend is suffering at home alone.”

Ken Burns, the Ewers brothers, and some of the young people in the film attended a screening this week at The White House with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, who called the film “utterly breathtaking.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arranged a subsequent screening for Congress members.

Ewers praised the vulnerability and courage of the young people in the film as nothing short of heroic. “They are putting their private and dark moments out there for everyone to see.” Their hope? To reach others who are struggling but have not yet sought help. Ewers recounted, “Every one of them has said to us, ‘If I could just help one other person, then this is all worth it.’”

Multiple public health agencies have been sounding the alarm about the mental health crisis facing American youth, even before the pandemic hit. For example, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warns that “1 in 3 high school students had experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2019, a 40 percent increase since 2009.”

However, statistics pale in comparison to human stories. Hearing young people tell their stories in their own words is uniquely powerful. The youth involved are already becoming changemakers, as this film has sparked a similar project involving adult mental health.

“The openness of young people today is bringing some very positive change,” Ewers stressed. “I think our future is going to be quite bright.”

Save the date. Tune in to PBS on Monday night. If you miss it, it will be streaming for most of July.

Read the full article here.

Watch the teaser

or the full trailer

or learn more at WellBeings.

Image by ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’ at WellBeings