Nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Silver Linings Playbook has been praised as the film that finally saw Hollywood understand mental health problems. Bradley Cooper stars as Pat, a man struggling to cope with daily life following his release from a psychiatric facility. He meets a troubled young widow, Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence, and the film documents their developing relationship. Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver co-star in an incredibly moving movie that sheds light on bipolar disorder. Silver Linings Playbook is being screened in association with Access Cinema and See Change, the national mental health stigma reduction partnership.
First Fortnight is delighted to once again partner with See Change who contributed greatly to the success of First Fortnight 2012 and 2013. See Change’s tireless work in reducing the stigma around mental health gained national attention last May as the partnership of over 80 organisations rolled out a month long national green ribbon campaign to get people talking openly about mental health problems. More than 150,000 green ribbons were distributed nationwide to spark a national conversation about mental health with the aim of making the month of May synonymous with promoting open conversation on mental health and challenging the stigma of mental health problems. First Fortnight is also delighted to have teamed up with Access Cinema, a resource organisation for regional cultural cinema exhibition in Ireland. Along with See Change they are helping to bring the festival’s aim of challenging mental health prejudice through the arts nationwide for the very first time.
A post-show discussion featuring award winning director Lenny Abrahamson and guests will follow the screening. The topic up for discussion is: ‘How has film shaped your attitude to mental health?’ If Silver Linings Playbook was the film that got mental health problems right, then what has been the effect of all those that got it wrong?
