Akin is a personal, artistic representation of my relationship with my two younger sisters. Both alive and well, they have struggled in the past with mental health issues and their perception of themselves to others. As I struggle with these issues and find them all too common in modern society, I was inspired to create a film speaking on the topics of mental health, self perception and loss, specifically within a sibling relationship. I wanted to speak to my sisters on how much they mean to me and those around them, while additionally spreading this message to a wider audience who might be in similar situations. Akin’s title refers to the similarities (akin to) between siblings (a kin).

The character Alex, a loose embodiment of myself, is a workaholic. He spends most of his energy on his work and strives for bigger and better projects. He is more than capable of doing the job, and he will ensure you know so. Stacy, a more intense embodiment of my sisters, is caught in a perpetual cycle of self loathing. Unable to bear the possible public humiliation of her makeup, waist, or hair she confines herself to her room. With only her thoughts and images from beauty magazines as a reality, Stacy decides to remove herself from the world. Thankfully, neither of my sisters made the same decision, however for a time, I was incredibly worried one of them would. Which challenged me further for this film; how would that change you? How would you cope?

As I like to work with scientifically possible rules, I found Alex would be the type of person to “cope” with an extreme case of cognitive dissonance - a psychological state in which extreme stress can lead a person to alter their attitude, beliefs or behaviors to “restore balance” in their life. With the loss of Stacy, Alex continues to believe his routine of bringing her food and water, talking to her and attempting to help her. However, with this mourning and stress, Alex suffers mentally, leading to diminishing returns in his work, leading to failures, leading to self loathing, akin to what once was Stacy’s position.

By ending the film with Alex understanding his position and choosing the path of healing, I hope to push the notion of self help and bring awareness to these common issues in our society.