Scottish filmmaker Duncan Cowles set out to ask why men tend to bottle up their emotions.
The topic of male mental health has received much more prominence in the last decade - something many would argue is long overdue.
"I think there's still a lot of societal pressure around those traditional masculine traits," Cowles says. "Being strong and things associated with being a leader or this stable, reliable, dependable figure. The fact that the essayist's most famous observation has survived for 170 years and is still quoted so widely today is a testament to its relatability - but also of how little progress has been made.
Setting out to explore the subject further, Cowles posts an advert online, looking for men to speak to for the documentary. He then goes to interview some of those who reply. One trauma specialist interviewed for the film cites a study which found that babies in blue blankets - and therefore assumed to be boys - were touched for significantly less time than girls.
Silent Men is Cowles' first feature documentary, but he previously won a Bafta Scotland award for his short film Isabella.Asked if it was difficult to get the men featured in the film to talk about their feelings, Cowles replies: "Strangely not, because there's something about speaking to a stranger that can sometimes feel a lot easier than speaking to someone who's in your own family. I guess it's because you've less to lose.
Despite all the heavy talk, the film is peppered with moments of levity - the director occasionally cuts away abruptly from tough conversations to run footage of soothing shorelines and bumble bees on flowers.
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