Guest Contributor: Coli Sylla
Screenwriter & Director of short film entitled f31.9
What does Black Mental Wellness mean to you?
Black mental wellness means the ability to identify, process, and manage the everyday challenges that pose a risk to our mental health. It is an ability possess a clear understanding that through the collective African American experience, traumatic experiences have shaped our way of life causing us to develop coping mechanisms that may need to be evaluated and challenged.
How do you promote change and well-being in the Black community?
As a screenwriter, most of the content I create reflects mental health in the Black community in some form or fashion. Additionally, I will be directing a short film entitled f31.9 centered on the stigma and mystery behind bipolar disorder and its impact on Black men and Black love. Through writing and visual storytelling my primary objective is to challenge the stigma and present mental health as a natural part of our experience.
What are some upcoming events you are leading, that promote mental health and wellness, that you would like for our Black Mental Wellness audience to know about?
One I am most proud of and looking forward to is shooting the film f31.9 slated to begin production in May 2025!
How can we encourage more people to seek mental health treatment?
By SHOWING what mental health and wellness management looks like. I think it's safe to say that using a visual medium such as film could have a profound impact on audiences and those the film reaches through it's distribution platforms. The exhibition of visual content, in tandem with online resources creates a powerful network and database of information that individuals can access as a resource and means to seek mental health treatment.
What are your recommendations for ending stigma in the Black community?
Continuing and generating the conversation about what trauma is, what depression is, what the varying diagnoses that impact our community look like and how we can manage them. We have to desensitize the community in order to make these conditions a natural extension of who we are. A diagnosis does not mean the person is "Bad" or "Doomed," it simply means the individual acknowledges the diagnosis, processes it, and begins the steps to manage it by becoming empowered with the tools to cope with the challenges presented by the diagnosis.
Do you have an experience with seeking mental health treatment that you would like to share with the Black Mental Wellness audience?
Yes, my introduction to mental health treatment stemmed from the death of my college roommate in November 2000. I was present and even held him in my arms frantically looking for a pulse. It was an experience that impacts me to this very day as there really is no time between that night and the present day. It literally feels like it just happened. I often feel guilty for the way I carry the weight of my experience because I was not the only one present. Since then, therapy has been a major part of my life and experience, and I have learned an incredible deal about who I am as a man.
Guest Contributor
Coli Sylla is a screenwriting fellow with African roots and a unique perspective that fuels his boundless commitment to creating tense drama. Recently named one of the Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2024 by the ISA. Sylla’s Grand Prize win in the 2022 Creative Screenwriting TV Pilot Competition opened the door to a series of back-to-back quarter finalist and semifinalist placements in various screenplay competitions.
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