The film shows the Indian American filmmaker’s personal journey as an orphaned child, and his immigrant parents’ lives and deaths.
Hindu American Seva Communities is screening a documentary film Unbroken Glass by Indian American filmmaker Dinesh Sabu, on Saturday May 6. The screening will be at UMD Shady Grove BLDG 3, 111-3241, 3rd Floor, Crockett Theater, 9360 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, MD 20850. There will be two sessions: from 2 p.m. till 3 p.m.; and from 4.15 p.m. till 5.15 p.m. Both sessions will be followed by a 30-minute open discussion on issues surrounding mental illness and how to cope with them.
“Unbroken Glass is a documentary about filmmaker Dinesh Das Sabu’s journey to understand his parents, who died 20 years ago when he was just six years old,” the film’s news statement read. “Traveling to India and across the United States, Dinesh pieces together the story of his mother’s schizophrenia and suicide, and how his family dealt with it in an age and culture where mental illness was often misunderstood, scorned and taboo.”
Remembering his father’s demise on one of his death anniversaries, Sabu wrote, “His [Sabu’s father] death was what started this whole mess. Simply put, if he didn’t die, my mom probably wouldn’t have committed suicide, and I’d have grown up with parents.”
Over the years, Sabu realized that mental illness is more than just personal. It is something that touches several lives. “At some point the story was bigger than just my family. I thought, (and still think), that there are people out there who have probably been touched by the same demons: death, suicide, mental illness, silence,” he said. “Maybe there would be some virtue in telling this story publicly.”
The team took seven years to finish the project. In 2016, the film was selected in the Dallas VideoFest 29; Tasveer, Seattle South Asian Film Festival; and Austin Asian American Film Festival. The tickets for the Rockville, MD, event costs $12, and are available here.