Mental illness brought to the fore

The barely two-minute film shows a day in the life of a severely depressed man who can hardly get out of bed, locks himself in the toilet to avoid contact, and can no longer feel the kisses of his children.

Unlike physical disabilities, mental impairments are virtually invisible to outsiders. However, depression or another mental illness can have an equally disabling effect on the lives of those affected and their relatives. If symptoms persist, consequences can include unemployment and loss of wealth and social contacts. People in this situation are usually denied participation in social and economic life. "Disability always has two sides. On the one hand, there is the physical or mental illness and, on the other, there is the passive obstruction by society, which excludes people with disabilities from life," explains Mark Zumbühl, Head of Communications at Pro Infirmis.

Jung von Matt/Limmat and Pro Infirmis were also able to engage Swiss film director Alain Gsponer ("Akte Grüninger", "Lila Lila", "Heidi") for the new film under the motto "Come closer. The new film shows the everyday life of a successful employee and family man who suffers from depression. Those affected repeatedly describe the feeling of inner emptiness, as if they were only a shell. The film takes up this motif. The use of actor Matthias Bernhold in the film is brief. Until the end of the film, only a deceptively real figure of the man can be seen. Only in the final frame do actor Bernhold and the figure meet.

This is not the first spot that Jung von Matt/Limmat has produced for Pro Infirmis together with Alain Gsponer. The films "Bear" and "Mannequins" will soon reach 30 million views on YouTube. Despite the difficult subject matter, the latest film is also intended to get people thinking and talking about it again. The new film is now available in cinemas and online in German, French, Italian and English versions. In addition to the film on YouTube and in cinemas, the disease depression is also made a topic in print and online in a wide variety of applications.

In addition, Pro Infirmis, in collaboration with the University Psychiatric Clinics Basel and 20 Minuten, will be conducting a Study on the topic of mental illness. The results will be woven into public relations work parallel to the campaign. The new Pro Infirmis campaign and the topic of mental illnesses were also the subject of the discussion round in the "Club" on Swiss television SRF 1 on Tuesday, December 2, 2014.

Responsible at Pro Infirmis: Mark Zumbühl (Head of Communications & Member of GL), Bettina Konetschnig (Communications Consultant, Social Media Officer). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat: Alexander Jaggy (Executive Creative Direction), Samuel Wicki (Text), Lukas Frischknecht, Reto Oetterli, David Hanselmann (Art Direction), Amaru Eslava (Graphics), Marco Dettling, Roman Meister (Consulting), Sarida Bossoni (Agency Producer), Deborah Herzig (Art Buying), Alexander Gligorijevic, Nicole Hoppler, Julia Fischhaber (PR Consulting), Pumpkin Films (Film Production), Alain Gsponer (Direction), CFX Productions (Sculpture), Manna Horsting (Song), Sizzer Amsterdam (Music Production), Hastings (Recording Studio), Konnex (Media).