The maladies of the mind are slowly becoming a global phenomenon and Thiruvalla, the quaint Central Travancore town with a marked global twist to its demography, was chosen to screen an award-winning English movie, Extra Innings, that brought forth how hope could help troubled minds overcome the blues.
The screening at the Pushpagiri Medical College was the India premiere of the film, which won the best feature film award at the 2019 Manhattan Film Festival in New York, where its world premiere was held on May 5.
“ Extra Innings is a well-crafted movie focussed on bringing a message of hope to those afflicted with mental illness. It also helps suicide prevention and foster a conversation about reducing the stigma that surrounds mental illness,” said Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, secretary-general of the World Psychiatric Association, who is behind the screening of the India premiere of the movie at the Pushpagiri Medical College on Tuesday under the auspices of his own Department of Psychiatry. It was Dr Kalivayalil’s friendship with the filmmaker, Albert Dabah, that made the India premiere of this movie possible in Thiruvalla.
Based on a true story, as the director himself claims, Extra Innings is set in 1960s Brooklyn and is the story of a young man, David, who is caught between pursuing his baseball dreams and staying devoted to his aristocratic Syrian Jewish family that struggles to deal with the situations that mental illness bring. David loves baseball more than anything in life. But his parents, especially his father, Eli, do not support his love for the game.
David’s older brother Morris, afflicted with depression, sits sheltered in his room, spending his time reading novels or listening to classical music. Their mother, Esther, often loses grip in trying to take care of Morris who eventually commits suicide by ingesting a whole bottle of pills.
Though the film revolves around David and his baseball game, it makes sure to give credit to other characters as well and a feeling of warmth to the viewers for the whole of its two-hour span.
