A Miami filmmaker in “The Glass Child” gives voice to the sibling living in the shadows, whose emotions can be complicated and easily dismissed.
Dan Kitwood
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World Mental Health Day brings global attention to mental health awareness and the importance of creating greater understanding and support for those living with mental health conditions.
But greater understanding requires more than simply talking about mental health or knowing the names of conditions. Sometimes it requires seeing an experience through someone else’s eyes — a willingness to recognize what another person may be carrying, even when that struggle isn’t immediately visible.
That is why I created “The Glass Child,” a film that takes its title from the term “Glass Child Syndrome.” It describes someone whose needs were overlooked due to their parents being focused on a sibling with a chronic illness or special needs during their childhood.
I am a “glass child.” Growing up with an older autistic brother, my parents prioritized him over me. That experience shaped my understanding of family, love and emotional survival and left me navigating feelings of guilt, shame, frustration and longing.
Those feelings can be difficult to acknowledge, particularly as you grow older. How do you admit feeling resentment towards your sibling when you know they can’t control themselves? How do you ask for understanding when your parents have repeatedly chosen to misunderstand you?
Bottling up that kind of pain can create cycles of isolation and internalized guilt that affect relationships and self-worth. “The Glass Child” explores that complicated space — the anger, fear, resentment and longing that can stick with someone years after their childhood — along with reconciling old wounds to take the first step towards healing.
I made the film while studying at Miami Dade College. As a filmmaker in my 20s, choosing to write a film about myself was one of the most vulnerable things I had ever done. I was taking something I had struggled to articulate privately and asking my classmates, actors and eventually an audience to step inside it.
Few stories give voice to the sibling living in the shadows, whose emotions can be complicated and easily dismissed. Ultimately, “The Glass Child” is about visibility, validation, and emotional honesty. By telling this story, I hope others who have felt invisible within their own families can now feel seen and understood, and that those who haven’t lived this experience can better understand those who have.
My film will be shown in Miami on Saturday, Oct. 10 — World Mental Health Day — as part of NAMI Miami-Dade County’s Reel Minds Mental Health Film Festival at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. Film has a unique ability to connect us to experiences beyond our own and make visible struggles that can be difficult to put into words. The eight films being presented give the audience a chance to see the world through someone else’s eyes.
My hope on this World Mental Health Day is that stories like mine can inspire greater understanding, empathy and connection and help us see the struggles that may be hiding in plain sight.
Iñaki Amechazurra is a Miami-based filmmaker and graduate of Miami Dade College’s film program. His short film, The Glass Child, is an official selection of NAMI Miami-Dade County’s 2026 Reel Minds Mental Health Film Festival and will be shown Oct. 10. Visit namimiami.org for more information.