About 200 farmers and community members came together at the West Gippsland Arts Centre recently for a screening of "Just A Farmer."
Created by Victorian farmer Leila McDougall, the film uses the power of storytelling to illuminate the silent struggles within Australian farming communities and raise awareness of mental health issues and lack of support in rural areas.
Traf District News in partnership with the Silk Road Community of Trafalgar organised the free screening event.
Speaking before the screening, Ric Nicholson from Traf District News said the decision to host the screening was born out of positive community response and wanting to continue the conversations acknowledged in the film.
"We held an event called "Save Our Farmers" at the Trafalgar Community Hall on the 20th of July, in which we played a promo for this movie, and we thought if anyone was interested that we would go further," Mr Nicholson said.
"We got 30 inquiries on the day, but now it's good to see we've got over 200 people here today, a fantastic response."
Mr Nicholson encouraged the audience to continue the theme of the film by speaking with the NEX Solutions financial counselling team after the screening.
"This movie is designed to create conversation of how we together can move forward," he said.
Rural financial counsellor from NEX Solutions, Trudi Lang provided an overview of the services NEX Solutions provided and welcomed audience members to have a chat about any concerns at the end of the film.
Member for Monash Mary Aldred and Member for Narracan Wayne Farnham addressed the audience before the screening, speaking to the importance of opening a conversation about mental health.
"I'm proud that our region contributes about 23 per cent of our nation's milk output, about 26 per cent of Victoria's beef production," Ms Aldred said. "But our farmers who provide the wealth that sustains a nation need better support."
"One of the things this film does is open a conversation about mental health in regional areas. And that gives all of us the opportunity to take up that invitation in our own community to talk more openly about mental health in a way we might not always have felt able to."
"Our farmers need support more now than ever," Mr Farnham said.
"Their mental health is a breaking point and unfortunately, at this point in time, we have governments that aren't listening. We need to watch this film, we need to start the conversation, we need to make noise and start getting governments to listen."