January 23 - 29, 2015

Smashing
stigma
Cover story, page 2

Clara Hughes in
Claras Big Ride

Cover Story

An epic ride
Director Larry Weinstein follows cross-country suffer-fest in CTV documentary
By Meagan Sylvester
TV Media

efore March 2013, Clara

Hughes was known as a sixtime Olympic medallist and the
only athlete in history to win
multiple medals in both Summer
and Winter Games. And while
those days are over, Hughes says
her greatest victory was finally
accepting help when depression
nearly toppled her career.
But Hughes isnt satisfied
with being the face of mental
health advocacy in Canada, said

Toronto-based filmmaker Larry

Weinstein (Our Man in Tehran, 2013, Inside Hanas Suitcase, 2009) in an exclusive interview with TV Media. Rather,
what Hughes wants more than
gold is to open the conversation
about mental illness, to combat
the crippling social stigma associated with it and to inspire
those who suffer in silence to
seek help.
In conjunction with Bell Medias annual Bell Lets Talk Day
campaign a cross-country
initiative geared towards promoting awareness of mental

A scene from Claras Big Ride

health issues Weinstein and

Hughes recently joined forces in
an hour-long on the road documentary that chronicles
Hughes 11,000-kilometre suffer-fest through the rough Canadian terrain she now knows
so well and the devastatingly
personal stories she discovered
along the way, Weinstein said.
But when the Emmy-nominated and Gemini Award-winning director first met Hughes
during the intense training period a year prior to her ride, the
outspoken athlete would make
her opinion known: the film

Cover Story
would not be about her, but
rather a mosaic of Canadian
voices from coast to coast. Cap
off Bell Lets Talk Day 2015 with
the national premiere of Claras
Big Ride airing Wednesday, Jan.
28, on CTV
We spoke to a number of
young Canadians around the
country who told their stories
to the camera, and often for
the first time, said Weinstein,
whose career has been spent
documenting the lives of famous composers. And that
was very difficult for me I
kept thinking I cant do this,
you cant start weeping as your
interviewee is telling the story.
You have to maintain some distance, or do you? Its all about
compassion.
Compassion, he continued,
is what they had hoped the
film would be about.
As Hughes describes in an
early screener of the documentary, the stigma surrounding
mental illness cannot be
fought without understanding,
a transition in language practices and education.
The person struggling feels
like they should be ashamed of
who they are and they should
try to fix themselves, said
Hughes, who battled depression for months before seeking
help. But Im talking about
connecting with people and
putting them on the podium.
That, for me, is what this ride is
all about.
Between 105 communities,
235 events, 23,000 youth and
two moose sightings, the film
explores what Weinstein calls
diverse experiences of mental health, as it is very important to never generalize, the
Burnt Toast (2005) director
said. Everyone has different
circumstances and you have to
be aware of that.

Of the thousands of youth

that came forward to meet
Hughes, Weinstein said one experience in particular continues to stay with him since the
end of production in mid-December 2014.
This was actually a place
that wasnt part of the ride,
Clara and Peter (her husband)
had been there before and
wanted to take a plane, Weinstein said of the off-road trek.
Its something that deserves
its own film.
The community of Nain,
N.L., the northernmost permanent settlement in the province, is like a microcosm for all
of Canada, Weinstein says, in
terms of young people who
have lost their identities and
who suffer severe depression
as a result.
In a town of roughly 1,200
people, up to 23 suicides have
been reported in a single year,
said Weinstein, but he believes
the close-knit community is
now entering a recovery phase
thanks to integral social programs in the area.
This story, along with one
young woman whose family
doctor advised her not to speak
openly about her condition, are
the kinds of stories Hughes set
out to find on her epic crosscountry ride that started in Toronto and practically circled the
country before she would eventually cross the finish line in Ottawa. But not as many people
came forward as Hughes and
Weinstein had hoped.
We tried to reach out to
people through new media to
see if people would tell their
stories, and it was not an overwhelming response, said
Weinsten, who was approached by CTV to film the
documentary. Its a sign that
the stigma is very much alive.

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Despite these challenges,
Hughes vowed she would ride
through the bones in her feet
to complete the excruciating
challenge, and it was her determination that inspired Weinstein and his crew, despite having limited access and interview time.
Like many Canadians, Weinstein says his view of Hughes is
close to that of super woman, but shes also vulnerable
and a human being, taking
many stories to heart.
Odds are you know someone
who has suffered from or is currently suffering from mental illness. Its time to smash the stigma associated with it that
keeps people from talking
about their mental health and
seeking help. Cap off Bell Lets
Talk Day with the riveting documentary Claras Big Ride
from Gemini Award-winning
director Larry Weinstein when it
premieres nationally Wednesday, Jan. 28, on CTV.