Featuring my former Intern at This Is My Brave, Our Turn to Talk begins with Anastasia Vlasova. Anastasia’s eating disorder started in middle school at the same time that she started spending a lot of time on Instagram. She didn’t need the damning new Wall Street Journal investigation to tell her what she had already figured out for herself: time on the social media platform sent her mental health into a free fall. She was depressed. Anxious. Eating too much. Or eating too little. The shame she felt from this cycle kept her silent for nearly five years. Now, she’s speaking out and inviting other teens to do the same…without shame and without filters.
The documentary film follows Anastasia – a high school senior turned NYU college freshman – as she meets teens across the country and invites them to share their stories on a new podcast series she’s hosting, OUR TURN TO TALK. We meet Young Elder, an activist from Baltimore, Maryland who explains how police brutality and racism are at the root of the community trauma she’s fighting. Ryver, a transgender teen living in rural North Carolina who writes music to help her cope with a diagnosis of gender dysmorphia and the other mental health challenges it triggered. Morgan, a Triple-A ice hockey player who finds support from a pro athlete after being cut from her team because of her mental health struggles. And the family of Dylan Buckner, a star high school quarterback, invites Anastasia into their home to talk about the quiet battle with depression that caused Dylan to take his own life at the height of the pandemic. Throughout the film, Anastasia also invites TikTok experts to share their experiences and knowledge.
Talking is more urgent than ever because teens are in crisis. Even before the pandemic, rates of depression, anxiety and suicide were on the rise. COVID-19 made everything worse. That’s why OUR TURN TO TALK is also an impact campaign to reach teens, parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches and counselors in schools and communities across the country. Because at the heart of Anastasia’s mission – and the film’s mega message – is this simple, extraordinary truth: Storytelling Saves Lives.
Our film debuts in October, as part of the WETA-PBS Well Beings project. If you’re interested in hosting a screening in your school or community, please fill out this form and we will be in touch. In the meantime, please check out Our Turn to Talk – season 1 wherever you get your podcasts – we’re on all the platforms. Through these intimate conversations you’ll meet some of the young people in the film, and others who are speaking out in hopes of inspiring their peers.
