Urban Dreams Mental Health Film Festival

The Urban Dreams Mental Health Film Festival is a thought-provoking event that aims to raise awareness about mental health issues through the power of film. The festival showcases a diverse range of films from around the world that explore the complex and often taboo topics surrounding mental health.

Through engaging and meaningful storytelling, the works presented at the Urban Dreams Mental Health Film Festival aim to educate and inspire audiences to break down the stigma associated with mental health issues. The festival provides a platform for filmmakers and content creators to share their unique perspectives and personal experiences, creating a safe and inclusive space for open dialogue and discussion.

Attendees of the festival can expect to see a wide range of genres, including documentaries, narratives, and animation, that tackle various themes related to mental health such as depression, anxiety, trauma, substance use disorders, and more.

The Urban Dreams Mental Health Film Festival is a vital and necessary event that helps to promote empathy, understanding, and compassion for those struggling with mental health issues. Through the power of cinema, the festival aims to inspire positive change, challenge social norms, and ultimately, foster a more supportive and inclusive society for all.

CO-FOUNDERS:

GEOFFREY GUERRERO:
Born and Bred in Brooklyn, NY, Geoffrey Guerrero is a multi-award winning filmmaker and entrepreneur. He is the recipient of the 2019 Prosperity Nation Award, winner of 2020 UREEKA Google PowerUp Grant, winner of 2021 NYC Artists Corps Grant, and Winner of the 2022 Neighborhood Business Grant sponsored by the Citizens Committee for New York City and Wells Fargo. Guerrero graduated from CUNY’s Brooklyn College with a B.A. in Film Directing and minor in TV and Radio. As a filmmaker, Guerrero was selected as a finalist for the 2006 National Film Your Issue Competition for his provocative short “Here to Stay,” where President Obama, Tom Brokaw, Anderson Cooper, George Clooney, and Philip Seymour Hoffman served as honorary jury members. In 2007 he guest directed a short film called “Rewind” that won the Best Short Film “On The Edge” Award at the 2007 HBO New York International Latino Film Festival. In 2008, his short film “Baile (Dance)” won the Best Short Film at the Vine Shorts Film Festival in Santa Monica, CA and screened at the 2009 HBO New York International Latino Film Festival and 2009 Babelgum International Film Festival. Guerrero’s film “J-1” screened at the Academy-Award Qualifying 18th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, Coney Island Film Festival, Socially Relevant Film Festival, Palm Beach International Film Festival, SAG-AFTRA Foundation Showcase and made its European Premiere at the Let’s All Be Free Film Festival in the UK. Guerrero’s most recent film “Prerequisite” premiered at the 2017 Lighthouse International Film Festival and screened at the SOHO International Film Festival, Coney Island Film Festival, New York Short Film Festival, NYWIFT Film Festival, Williamsburg Film Festival, and New York No Limits Film Series. In June 2012, Guerrero launched the Katra Film Series – a widely hailed international film festival currently ranked one of the top 100 by FilmFreeway out of 10,000+ film festivals including Oscar-qualifying and BAFTA-qualifying festivals, showcasing quality short-form content and feature films by emerging and international Filmmakers. In 2018, with the success of Katra under his belt he went on to launch the acclaimed Bowery Film Festival with Co-Founder Kenneth Anderson. He followed the success of the Bowery by launching New Faces New Voices, Katra LatinX Festival, World Webfest Mania, and NY Pause Film Festival.

In 2022 Guerrero was invited to speak on a panel hosted by the New York State Multicultural Creativity Summit hosted by HBO’s NY Latino Film Festival. He was also invited to speak to the film and media arts students at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale and talk about his 20+ years experience in the industry. Guerrero is currently developing 5 feature films and a semi-autobiographical episodic series about his upbringing in the 90s in the rough-and-tumble Coney Island section of Brooklyn NY.

GRANT H. BRENNER, MD, DFAPA
Dr. Grant Brenner grew up in a culture and family immersed in self-exploration, psychoanalysis, psychology, growth and change, science, and curiosity. Early on, he felt a desire to become a therapist, and before that, a scientist. As he grappled with his own challenges and inner forces, he followed a meandering path from physics to psychology, from surgery to psychiatry, ultimately entering psychoanalytic training and private practice in 2002.
 
With over 20 years in private practice in Manhattan, Dr. Brenner has developed a creative, results-driven approach to help his patients understand themselves, identify and breakdown limiting patterns, and realize their most fulfilling and complete potential.
 
It is his personal mission to help others, and through this, change the world for the better.
 
In this pursuit, Dr. Brenner recently completed work with SOL Mental Health as New York Medical Director, transitioning from Co-Founder and Former CEO of Neighborhood Psychiatry and Wellness. He is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist in Private Practice in New York City, and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for Mount Sinai Beth Israel.

He is an entrepreneur, author, teacher, speaker, and not-for-profit board member with Vibrant Emotional Health, where he co-Chairs the Crisis Emotional Care Team Advisory Board, and is on the Board of Directors of Languages of Care, providing professionally-vetted translations of mental healthcare-related materials to further Global Health. He is co-Chair of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry's Disaster, Trauma and Global Health Committee. He has been featured on a variety of top ranked psychology resources and media as a thought leader and contributor.
 
Dr. Brenner is the co-author of three books, Irrelationship: How We Use Dysfunctional Relationships to Hide from Intimacy, Relationship Sanity: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Relationships, and the most recent sequel, Making Your Crazy Work For You: From Trauma and Isolation to Self-Acceptance and Love (Central Recovery Press), and co-editor and author for Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience: Integrating Care in Disaster Relief Work (Routledge, 2010). In addition, he is the author of the popular Psychology Today blog, ExperiMentations: Reflections on the Human Condition, with nearly 12 million views to date. Learn more: GrantHBrennerMD.com