Full transcript of Interview with “The Promise” Director, Jye Currie.

0:04KT: From the biggest independent film to be produced in Newcastle, to centering important conversations about mental health, filmmaker Jye Currie brings The Promise, which is up for Best Documentary at the 2024 AACTA Awards. The Promise follows Craig Hamilton and aims to inspire empathy, understanding and action as well as prioritizing mental wellbeing and supporting individuals on their path to recovery. Jye, thank you so much. And welcome to the For Your Reference Podcast.

0:35Jye: Thank you so much for having me.

0:35KT: I would love, love, love, love to hear about the screening and the Q&A's and the reactions and that sort of thing. And also working with, cause I saw the producer credit, with Craig as well. But before we even do that, I would love to take a step back and focus on you for a little bit. Because you are... passionate about talking about this hard to talk about topic, about mental health. And I would love to know, was there a particular moment or experience or maybe even a person that made you so passionate to want to create this film and talk about mental health?

1:12Jye: Yeah, for sure. There, like, there were a lot of reasons why I wanted to do it. I guess. Long story short, films are my voice, so I'm not an influencer, I'm not one of these people that get up and speak on stage and do all that, I create films, and that is how I communicate to audiences around the world, I guess. So, if I can use a film to help impact or influence anyone, that's, that's a big reason why I want to do it. The reason why we kind of got onto this one more. For sure, there's people in my life who have gone through hardship and, had their own struggles in, in suicide, with suicide and mental health and stuff.

1:47Jye: So that was a big driving factor, but, like Craig and myself, we're both from Newcastle and, like I'd read his book and, I heard him speaking about when he went through what he went through 20 years ago, not a lot of people were speaking about it and it made me just look at my own industry, being a film director and, Here in Australia, there's been some films done, on, on suicide prevention and mental health and that for sure. But there hadn't really been anything done in this way. And I was a bit shocked at that. I wasn't sure, like, what the case was. I'm not sure if, like, people had wanted to and, like, just at the funding process, it was too risky for investors or whatnot. But, yeah, I just felt as if it, it needed to be done.

2:28Jye: And my company, Green Frog Productions, we want to tell stories that are bold, unique. And that, that aren't, I guess haven't been done before. So, yeah, we just, we thought this would be a perfect project to tackle next.

2:40KT: Yeah. And, the, the reason why I wanted to start off this interview with that question is, in the very best way, you are pretty much an enigma, trying to get to know who you are, which makes sense because your lens is pointed towards other people. And I'm like, I would love to hear a little bit about you before we get into The Promise. And I guess in regards to the making of The Promise, given the nature of the subject matter, that is so important to talk about, but you know, it is a very sensitive subject.

3:09KT: Were there any sort of safety measures that were on set in regards to maybe resources that are available to the subjects that were being interviewed, for example?

3:17Jye: Yeah, definitely. So we, uh, that was something that we had to navigate, through production was, making sure that cast and crew both had, that support, it, we're not, we're not telling a, uh, movie that's like a rom com, we're talking about suicide, we're talking about mental health, we, uh, we've done interviews with people who would attempt suicide and survived, we've done interviews with people who had lost loved ones to suicide, so it was very difficult at times, Just having that support there, on a personal level with myself and the team and the people that, we were interviewing, but also like letting them know that, like if they needed ongoing support, we're going to connect them with that.

3:57Jye: Everyone just had that clear goal in mind of what this film can do, how it can help people. And that, that hope of helping people now and into the future is what really has got everyone through it.

4:10KT: Yeah. And it's so important to pour care into the production, especially for a film, like The Promise, which I really appreciate it. This question I think is probably more from like a cultural. So The Promise, it does have different sort of subjects of the documentary, but we are mostly focusing on Craig Hamilton's story. Usually when, you're hearing stories or even documentaries about someone's life, about something like mental health that could be hereditary, usually there's, there's a focus on upbringing, and there was a little bit about that in the documentary as well. But I guess also just being conscious of, even what you're mentioning, making sure it's made done with care and it's not done in an exploitative, give me all your tea sort of way. Was it a conscious sort of decision to focus on the now as opposed to what led up to Craig being the man that he is today?

5:00KT: Or was there stuff on the cutting room floor that just didn't make the cut for whatever reason?

5:05Jye: Yeah, well, we filmed heaps, but we filmed hours and hours that obviously just didn't, didn't make the film and and that. But it's one of them things, it was, it was hard to navigate by. So Craig's story, he's wrote two books on it. One's a four time bestseller here in Australia. So, there was a fine line between telling Craig's story that happened 20 years ago and also telling the stories of everyone else that's in it. So, in that one hour, we go through a lot. We, we interview a lot of people. We hear a lot of different perspectives, and I wanted to broaden it right out and make it feel like a suicide prevention film.

5:39Jye: I wanted insights from, like I said, people who have attempted suicide and survived, people who have lost loved ones. We interview, people from the health system, leading researchers, nurses. Australian, people like with high profiles here in Australia, in the sporting world. And we wanted that's that real rounded perspective, I guess. And to bring that in into play, we had to focus on so many current things that are happening, how people stay, stay healthy, keep that healthy mindset. And, I don't know, we really want to push hope. So, it's all good to just sit there and just dump a bunch of information on people and then they walk away and just feel depressed, I guess.

6:24Jye: So we wanted to bring that, show people there are bad times, but you can work your way through it and come out the other side and everything can be okay.

6:31KT: Yeah, absolutely. And, even coming to, athletes as well, Joe Williams is in this film, rugby player, mental health advocate. There was a quote that I just, it really resonated with me and I, if you want to expound on it, if you want to talk about it as well. But he said in the documentary, The Promise, we need to stop saying that people should reach out for help and we need to start paying attention to people's behaviors and start reaching in for help.

6:57Jye: Definitely. And that's something that, across all the screenings, people have really, during the Q and A's, they're really focused on or brought up. I think that was definitely a very powerful quote that's in there. Flipping the script, stop putting the pressure on people to... talk when they're in that headspace, because that's, that's the last thing they want to do. And that's where the idea of the promise comes along. But, um, I think with this whole theme of mental health, it's, it shouldn't be done alone. We should be doing it as a team with our loved ones, the people around us. And I guess that's what's, it's summed up quite, quite perfectly with Joe's quote.

7:40KT: And, you, you touched on the Q and A's. And that sort of thing. Were there any sort of moments that, really resonated with the crowd or, any particular parts of the film that were called out as, thank you for putting in this in and that sort of thing, um,

7:56Jye: The biggest part that most people have said. They've got something out of, but also found it the most challenging to watch, uh, let's say about a third of the way, uh, two thirds of the way through, the end of the second act, we sit down and we do interviews with four, four people who had lost loved ones to suicide and hearing their stories as challenging as they are, has helped people understand that After that flow on effect, I guess, of what it can cause, I've heard stories of people leaving the Q&A's, upset, sit and chat with their loved one for a couple of hours.

8:37Jye: And then the next day, go and seek help. And they said, like, I don't want to put you through this. I guess it kind of shines a light on, um, everyone else that's affected by this.

8:51KT: Yeah, absolutely. And, it definitely makes sense to watch it with care, but it's also good to hear that, people are sharing and they're talking about it. And I think it was in the documentary. It might have been Joe or it might have been someone else, but just acknowledging that someone tells you. They're having a shit go, just being in that moment and not, not giving a solution, but being like, fuck man, that's hard. Like, I'm so sorry. I'm right here with you. Yeah.

9:20Jye: Yeah. I think, I think Justin might've said that in the end. And he, and he says, acknowledge it. Yeah. Acknowledge it and ask them what they want to do about it. Because, at the end of the day, it's their choice. So, yeah.

9:33KT: There was also another quote that, Justin mentioned as well. When health becomes a health system, it becomes a business. That's when it becomes broken. It's not healthcare system anymore. The care gets dropped and it feels like it was a deliberate thing. And it makes sense that it was focusing on the people as opposed to the system. but it was so good to be able to hear that because sometimes there is that sort of dissonance or that courage to call the, the, the helpline and maybe not get the best sort of care.

10:04Jye: Yeah, but here in Australia, we go, we go into it as much as we, I'll get back to that, but as much as we do go into all the, the statistics and explore how the health system is operating and, the rates in which people are suiciding here in Australia and, and that we do. We try to tell it through a narrative and let that story unfold so it's easy to watch, people don't want to go in for an hour and just feel like they've just been sitting through a lecture and just information dumped on them.

10:32Jye: So that was another reason why we, we showed all them lifestyle things and tried to make it unfold like a bit of a narrative and bring a little bit of that fiction vibe to it. To get back to your question, um, yeah, so Justin explores that because the number, the ratio here of what our country is going through to the people that can help is just way out and in Australia, like if you, if you're struggling and you reach out, it can take six weeks before you can see anyone and six weeks is way too long, like if you were in a car crash, you'd be straight into emergency in, An hour, less than.

11:11Jye: You'd be straight through. Everyone would drop everything. They'd be helping you. It's life threatening. We need to save this person's life. And just because we can't see it doesn't mean that mental health isn't life threatening. And that's what the film explores. It's like it is. People, uh, Australians die by suicide every day. So, it's one of them things where... it needs to be explored a little bit better, I guess, by the people that can make decisions here in Australia.

11:39KT: I think something that, not to say that it was said so casually, but it was so accepting, Craig and a few people through the documentary, but also, like, suicide surrounds all of us. And unfortunately, I've had people that I love around me, in various facets, whether it's family or peers and that sort of thing. And it's not an easy thing to talk about. It's not. I'm sorry about that. That's okay. And thank you. I received that and I appreciate that. And I can only imagine what it was like when Craig was really trying to... shake down the walls and talk about it. We do have like R U OK? Day now and that sort of thing. So there is a bit of dialogue that's going on. And I, I think what I appreciated about The Promise was maybe that's something that I'm so used to because I was watching the documentary, but I was like, Oh, but we've got all of these health services, but also contextualizing the fact that's not what it was like 20 years ago.

12:37Jye: Definitely. What you said at the start of that with how many, we all know someone that's going through it, what we've done at quite a few of the Q&A screenings is we've just asked people in the room to raise your hand if you know anyone, if you have yourself, a work colleague, friend, family gone through anything related to this, and every time 100 percent of the hands go up. Every single hand goes up in the room and it's one of them things, but as much as we all know that there's still so much silence about it and people aren't, I don't know, I guess I don't feel confident enough to still speak about it. Like, we have the R U OK? Day and there's nothing against it. It's great and it's a, it is a way forward, but it's one day of the year and that one day they may be okay and a lot of the other days they might not be.

13:27Jye: And it's not only just asking the question, but asking with intent, like actually asking. And be ready for an answer that might be no and sit down and listen to that person, I think is the bigger message.

13:38KT: I think so. I think, yeah, as great as it is, we're in the 2020s and I think we can do better about caring and about talking about, and it was said in the documentary as well, it is very isolating and It's a, it's a community effort to really come together and talk about what's going on or what isn't going on and why isn't going on.

14:00Jye: Yeah, definitely. And as much as there's so much, there is a bit of a movement now moving forward and people are talking about it and there's a lot of, organizations behind it, but the rates don't seem to be getting a lot, like, smaller. So, there's still work to be done, I guess, in that way. And, yeah.

14:21KT: Yeah, I, I don't mean to make this like an anti capitalist, like, rant and that sort of thing, but it's so interesting to have, like, news reports about suicide and about mental health and it's like, Everyone loves working and it's like, actually, how do we plug out of the matrix and talk of, you know what I mean? Like sometimes it's like conflicting sort of messaging.

14:43Jye: Yeah, yeah, definitely. And that's just one of the things I guess, like films, films are great for that. They can raise, Raise questions, raise topics, and it's up to people to explore them on their own. I guess that's what we've done in this, um, film is we've just told stories, real stories from real people from all different perspectives of this. And, people can take away what they, what they want from it or what they need from it. And, hopefully just like any good form of art, gets people talking and thinking.

15:09KT: Yeah, absolutely. I guess, are there any sort of key takeaways that you hope people will take from The Promise in this film?

15:22Jye: I really feel as if there's so much in there. So it doesn't matter who you are or what you're going through, where you are in life. There's something in there that will resonate with you. And I guess at the end of the day, the common thread through the whole film is hope. So it doesn't matter where you are, what you're going through. There's hope on the other side to just improve even if nothing is wrong. Just, yeah, there's, and if it doesn't, even if people don't wanna watch it related to any of that stuff, uh, we feel if it's just a good enough story, we've, um, yeah, just as it unfolds and just the events that happen in it that will keep people engaged.

15:58Jye: Like, and that's been the response from all the, all the screenings so far. And that, so, I guess on that same theme, I just had people watch it and can take, take out, what they need from it.

16:07KT: And I love that there's been such success in the Q&A screenings 'cause that in and of itself says that people want to talk about and then they want to be able to channel their energy through the medium of film.

16:22Jye: Yeah, definitely, definitely. Like, and we're getting good turnouts. Like, I'm here in Newcastle. One of them, we had over a thousand people turn out to the night. Yeah, like great, great turnouts and everyone's just buzzing and loving it and just a lot of follow up conversations. And, we really, like, we know we're up for best documentary at the moment and we're slowly starting to submit for a film festival. So we just hope that they will take it the same and, take, take it serious enough to watch it and really consider it because, it is a unique film for sure.

16:53KT: Well, I guess I just want to thank you and Craig and the team and everyone that was involved, again, cause the care is so important. These modern sort of audiences, you can tell when something feels exploitative. Or you're just doing something to get that dramatic sort of turn. So I really give a lot of respect to the care that was put into this film. So I guess just to wrap up with our final question, we finished our reviews with a recommendation. So what would you pair with The Promise as a double feature? It can be a documentary or it can be a fictional film as well.

17:24Jye: Craig always cracks jokes about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, because when he was in, James Fletcher at the psychiatric hospital, when, after he had his episode, he was there and he talks about his experience being close to that movie. Yeah. But we don't explore it in the film. So, that's the only one that comes to mind. We didn't, yeah, we didn't elaborate too much on Craig's time in the hospital, other than just that relationship with Justin, but... yeah, let's just say that.

17:52KT: Okay, I was also thinking the OG It's a Wonderful Life. People usually call it a Christmas film, but it's like a middle aged man going through shit. I'm like, this is not... This is not a Christmas film. This is not cheerful at all.

18:06Jye: Yeah, go check it out.

18:07KT: Well, thank you so much, Jye. I really appreciate your time and congratulations and all the best for Best Documentary at the AACTA Awards.

18:15Jye: Thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to sit and talk with me.

18:18KT: Thank you. Cheers.