The Reel Mind series, which seeks to do away with the stigma
surrounding mental illness and provide a message of hope through art and film,
starts off Tuesday with the powerful “Unbroken Glass,” from director Dinesh Das
Sabu. Orphaned at only 6, Sabu
was left with little memory of his parents while they were alive. What he does
know doesn’t paint a happy picture: his father was abusive and died of stomach
cancer, and his mother was schizophrenic and committed suicide shortly after
her husband’s death. By filling in the details, Sabu
hopes to better understand them and overcome his feelings of anger and
resentment.
Sabu begins a personal journey, looking back with his four
siblings — two sisters and two brothers — and making a visit to his extended
family in India. Through photo albums and conversation, he attempts to piece
together a part of his family’s history he was too young to understand while it
was happening, and confront his family’s legacy of mental illness and what it
means for his own battles with depression. Sabu will
be in attendance at the screening for a Q&A following the film.
The Reel
Mind series continues with bi-weekly installments, concluding with a short film
program and art show on June 20. Tickets are $28 for the series or $8 for
individual films and are available online or in person at NAMI-Rochester (320
North Goodman Street). More info at reelmindfilmfest.org.
This article appears in May 3-9, 2017.
—The Reel Mind series, which seeks to do away with the stigma surrounding mental illness and
For me to “do away with” the stigma of mental illnesses, I would first have to accept that there is one. I cannot imagine participating in that prejudice, nor providing support to anyone who does. .