by Bob Carolla, NAMI Director of Media Relations
Home is an inspiring independent film about mental illness: serious, warm, intense and humorous. It has won the Entertainment Industries Council’s PRISM Award for 2014 for its portrayal of a person living with mental illness and was a nominee for Outstanding Director in a Motion Picture at the NAACP’s Image Awards.
Many of the faces in the film are familiar from such television series as HBO’s “The Wire,” “NYPD Blue,” “The Good Wife” and “Blue Bloods” and movies like Terminator 2 and Blackhawk Down. The film was recently released on DVD and Video-on-Demand; more information about the film can be found online at www.homethefilm.com.
The story revolves around Jack Hall, played by Gbenga Akinnagbe (“The Wire”), who has schizophrenia and lives in a New York City group home. Hall has a job as a messenger and is trying to gain independence by moving into his own apartment; in doing so, he is hoping to salvage his relationship with his young son, reestablish his life and try to achieve some sense of normalcy.
Jack’s psychiatrist must approve his discharge, but doesn’t believe he is ready. Other residents of the group home have their own differing opinions as to whether Jack is ready to live independently out in the world.
NAMI had the chance to speak with Jono Oliver, the film’s producer, writer and director. Oliver lives in Brooklyn. …