Experiencing Interruptions?

The Light Inside

Ways out of darkness...

A short film about surviving mental illness, featuring an immersive surround sound design (Theatrical: Dolby Atmos + 5.1. Digital preview screener: Binaural).

A woman carries a lighted candle into a darkened tunnel. Inside, she is surrounded by voices - each relating a lived experience of suffering mental ill-health. As the testimonies reach crisis point, the candle dies. All hope seems lost. Yet it is here, at the heart of darkness, that ‘the light inside’ and the return to wellbeing can be found.

  • Jesse Daniel Lawrence
    Director
    If You Can Hear Me, Isaac, Runt, Borderlands, A Page In The Book Of Time, Sun, Man On Moor
  • Jesse Daniel Lawrence
    Writer
    If You Can Hear Me
  • Jesse Daniel Lawrence
    Producer
    If You Can Hear Me, Borderlands, A Page In The Book Of Time, Sun, Man On Moor
  • Harry Knight
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 2, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    28,900 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Cotswold International Film Festival

    United Kingdom
    September 9, 2022
    Best Mental Health Film
  • Canberra International Mental Health Film Festival

    Australia
    October 9, 2022
    Australian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Courage Film Festival
    Berlin
    Germany
    European
    Semi-Finalist
  • Fox International Film Festival

    Italy
    October 1, 2022
    Honourable Mention Best Sound Design
Director Biography - Jesse Daniel Lawrence

Jesse is an international award-winning film maker based in the South-West of England. He is a graduate of both the National Film & TV School and Oxford University, and is a John Brabourne Awardee. His NFTS film 'Runt' won Best Film at Brest and Bologna; Special Jury Prize at Taipei and Special Mentions at Ludwigsburg and Aix-en-Provence.

More recently, Jesse wrote and directed half-hour BFI drama 'If You Can Hear Me' — about a boy finding hope through friendship after his discovery of a death by suicide — distributed by 7 Palms Entertainment and Gonella Productions, and available on Amazon Prime Video.

Prior to this Jesse made 'Change Step' for Forces Connect South West — about an army veteran struggling to adjust to ‘civvie’ life; UK Film Council short 'Isaac' — about a man finding forgiveness for the day his brother drowned; five shorts about adolescence and mental health for Charley Waller Memorial Trust; and ‘Shoplifting' 'Fight' & 'MDMA' — three shorts made for Somerset Youth Offending Team.

Documentary credits include 'A Special Place' — a series of shorts profiling artists and the places that inspire them, which have screened at Liverpool Lift Off, St Albans, Edindocs, Purbeck, HELD and been nominated for an American Online Film Award; ‘Wonderlooper’ — following artist Di Mainstone transform a suspension bridge into a giant musical instrument; and ‘Nocturne’ — about the release of previously unrecorded piano works composed by the late Malcolm Lipkin.

This year, Jesse completed his hybrid documentary ‘The Light Inside’ — about surviving mental ill-health, funded by The Victoria Wood Foundation, and made in partnership with Bath Mind through Jesse’s production company WorldOutThere Films Ltd.

Current projects include taking his debut feature screenplay 'Sargasso Dreams’ into production; prepping the next instalment in his ‘A Special Place’ series; and writing a collection of short stories. Jesse is also a singer-songwriter with folk-rock band The New Spirits and has edited numerous audiobooks for Sound Understanding, BBC Audiobooks, Chatterbox and Audible.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The Light Inside is inspired by my own memories of a time when I lived through a period of mental ill-health. With it, I wish to give voice to people who have suffered in this way. The mentally unwell are often characterised as weak, fragile, delicate of mind but what is rarely said, outside those who care for them, is how brave they may be. My belief is that if the wider society understood the courage required to survive mental ill-health, then the mentally unwell might be regarded with more respect and less fear. This, in turn might help chip away at the stigma that surrounds mental illness to this day. My aim, using real life testimony, is to show how that courage, insight, and the help of others can open pathways out of difficulty back to wellbeing.