real stories, real people, real communities, real change 

OUR TURN TO TALK is a defining film, podcast series and community created by award-winning Director Beth Murphy, PBS-WETA, and the many brave teens who are putting an end to mental health stigma by telling their own stories. Real, raw and life-affirming, OUR TURN TO TALK comes at a time when it’s needed most. From skyrocketing rates of anxiety and depression to the impacts of racism, social media, and the pandemic, the struggles and triumphs these teens share carry a powerful message: Storytelling saves lives.

After the documentary film screening we will be joined by the award winning director, Beth Murphy, in a conversation about the Our Turn to Talk project and its social impact on youth and local communities in the United States.

Beth’s teenage daughter has struggled with anxiety and an eating disorder, inspiring her to use her storytelling skills to fight stigma and create media that can inspire more open conversations about mental health issues within families and communities. Beth is also the founder of Principle Pictures, a media and impact company dedicated to storytelling for social impact—through films, podcasts, news reports, and complementary impact campaigns. Her work premiers at top-tier film festivals globally and can be found across national and international media outlets, including PBS (FRONTLINE, POV, Independent Lens and NewsHour), The New York Times Op-Docs, TIME, History Channel, The Sundance Channel, Discovery Networks, Lifetime, ABC News, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, The Washington Post, PRI The World, NHK, Canal Vie, and many others. Her honors include: Emmy Award, World Press Photo Award, Overseas Press Club Award, Scripps Howard Award, National Headliner Award, Webby Award, RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award, AWRT’s Gracie Allen Award, One Shared World International Outreach Award, and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award.

DOCTalks Presents is a documentary film series being organized by DOCTalks Festival & Symposium Inc. and two non-profit community television stations in the Maritimes – CHCO in St. Andrew’s, NB and CIMC in Arichat, NS. Both television stations are CRTC licensed and collectively reach an estimated 800,000+ households in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and across Canada via UHF antenna, basic cable tier, satellite television, and Internet service providers.

DOCTalks Presents offers a unique knowledge mobilization/dissemination opportunity for researchers to present their research findings through documentary film, and for documentary producers to further distribute their documentary films beyond film festivals and community screenings.

DOCTalks would like to acknowledge that the land we reside on, known as Turtle Island (North America), is also on the traditional unceeded territory of the Walatakewiyik (Maliseet) Peoples. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace & Friendship” which the Walatakewiyik (Maliseet),  Mi’kmaq (Mi’kmaw), and Peskotomuhkati (Passamaquoddy) People’s signed with the British Crown in the 1700s. The treaties did not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognized Mi’kmaq / Mi’kmaw, Walatakewiyik and Peskotomuhkati title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations.