Scientific studies show it: the Covid-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a deterioration in the state of mental health of a large part of the French population. And, among these, certain categories have been more affected, such as students. The National Institute of Health and Medical Research had unveiled, at the end of 2021, a study carried out jointly by researchers from Inserm and the University of Bordeaux at the Bordeaux Population Health Center, pointing out the vulnerability of this category. Population : “The analyzes show that over the entire period considered, students are more affected than non-students by mental health problems. They are thus 36.6% to report depressive symptoms (compared to 20.1% of non-students) and 27.5% anxiety symptoms (compared to 16.9%). In addition, 12.7% of students reported suicidal thoughts (compared to 7.9% of non-students)” then commented Inserm.
Aix-en-Provence, with its 40,000 students, was not spared this suffering, which was coupled with exacerbated precariousness among the less well-off. We still remember the queues in front of the distribution of food products. What about mental health? Are there still remnants of depression among students locked at home during the pandemic? To talk about it, a meeting is scheduled tomorrow evening from 7 p.m. at the Manufacture (Méjanes) around the short film by Marie Poupinet. Herself a student during this difficult period, confined between Aix and Marseille, she recounts, during this fifteen-minute film, the psychological collapse of a young girl who has “the impression of losing the best years of his life“.
The 3 questions to marie poupinet director of the short film “the stars have disappeared”: “It’s not a parenthesis. There has been lasting damage
How was this film project born?
“I left Aix to do a bachelor’s degree in political science and history in Paris, but regularly I told myself that it was cinema that really interested me. The summer between the bachelor’s degree and the master’s, I got started, I enrolled in a master’s degree in audiovisual, with a year of internship on set, both staging and costumes. I never went back to school, because there I work all the time !
This film, I made it during my caesura, on my free time. We started from nothing, with volunteers. It’s amateur, but it’s a great experience. We shot in four days, because we didn’t have too many means, but this limitation forced us to find solutions.
How will this evening at the Manufacture go?
The first part will be the screening of the film. Afterwards, an intervention by a Crous specialist is planned. Then will follow discussions with the public, first on the film, and then on the mental health of the students. An association from Aix which helps students will also be present.
“The stars have disappeared”, is that your story?
It’s still fiction but it’s very close to reality! The outline is what we experienced, the co-screenwriter and me. I myself was confined between Aix and Paris. The Covid, confinement, is not a parenthesis. There was lasting damage, it left traces. I think the pandemic has also served as an indicator of the precariousness of certain students.
Evening at the Manufacture, March 29 at 7 p.m., free on registration: my.weezevent.com/projection-debat-1