Title: The Only Real Game Director: Mirra Bank A stirring nonfiction sociocultural curiosity that taps into the power of sports to bridge divides and develop kinships across incredible distances, director Mirra Bank’s “The Only Real Game” tells the story of a small pocket of India obsessed with American baseball. Narrated by Academy Award winner Melissa Leo, the film is an involving reminder of the fact that ambassadorships need not be political, and that human understanding and connection turns on a much more intimate axis. “The Only Real Game” takes place in Manipur, a remote eastern Indian bordering Burma, beset with 25 percent unemployment plus many other problems – not the least of [ Read More ]
The post The Only Real Game Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post The Only Real Game Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 6/23/2014
- by bsimon
- ShockYa
The recent Disney film "Million Dollar Arm" dealt with the real life story of a sports agent who decides to find talented kids in India to turn them into financially successful baseball stars. On the other hand, in Mirra Bank's documentary "The Only Real Game," the quintessential American pastime in Manipur, northeastern India, represents hope. The game represents an escape from poverty, civil war, drug trafficking, and HIV/AIDS.
"The Only Real Game" will have a one week run from June 20-26, 2014 at the Laemmle’s Music Hall 3 in Beverly Hills, CA
Here is what some renowned outlets had to say about the film
The Village Voice
By Daphne Howland
In "The Only Real Game," Mirra Bank shines a spotlight onto a nearly forgotten place, Manipur, a poor and war-torn state under martial law in northeast India.
In an area of the world where soccer and cricket reign, Manipuris were first captivated by baseball in the 1940s, as played by the American pilots who used their kingdom as a strategic spot to stock and launch their planes, and they remain amazingly dedicated to it.
This film contains just enough facts, figures, and footage to give us Manipur’s history and a vivid picture of its current dire situation. But Bank’s story of the women, men, and children so passionate about their game is itself wholly absorbing. The women, in particular, are especially ardent about baseball, as skilled at this game as they are at protecting their children and themselves from disease and insurgent soldier-thugs.
A bunch of American baseball fans get wind of the makeshift innings being played there and raise enough money to bring in regulation balls and bats, and, best of all, gung-ho Major League Baseball coaches.
Sometimes the Manipuris put too much stock in baseball, like so many dirt-poor dreamers do; there’s a lot of heartache. But mostly, they play for love, and this film is like another work in the canon of baseball poetry.
New York Post
By Reed Tucker
While Jon Hamm is busy looking for Indian baseball players in “Million Dollar Arm,” filmmaker Mirra Bank has already found them.
They’re in Manipur, a remote state in northeast India.
As the new documentary “The Only Real Game” details, American baseball has taken hold in this small area of a country that’s largely dominated by cricket.
Despite Babe Ruth calling baseball “the only real game in the world,” it doesn’t exactly blanket the globe. The sport was likely introduced in Manipur by American soldiers stationed there during World War II. Today, the state’s capital city, Imphal, has more than 20 clubs.
“It gives people a sense of joy and solace and relief that’s very powerful,” Bank says. And Manipur is a region in need of relief.
For centuries, it remained an independent kingdom before finally being folded into India in 1949. Many residents still desire independence, and a violent civil war has been raging since the 1980s.
“This is such a staunch and amazing people under ridiculous forms of government that rise up somehow because of the human spirit,” says Melissa Leo, the Oscar-winning actress who narrates the documentary. “It’s remarkable that when people are oppressed, if there’s the tiniest escape hatch, a crack — even the simple, funny old game of baseball — people will slip through that crack.”
One organization that’s well aware of what’s going on in Manipur is Major League Baseball. It’s sent coaches and set up camps to further the sport’s programs. As Hamm discovered in “Million Dollar Arm,” India is too big a potential market to ignore.
"The Only Real Game" will have a one week run from June 20-26, 2014 at the Laemmle’s Music Hall 3 in Beverly Hills, CA
Here is what some renowned outlets had to say about the film
The Village Voice
By Daphne Howland
In "The Only Real Game," Mirra Bank shines a spotlight onto a nearly forgotten place, Manipur, a poor and war-torn state under martial law in northeast India.
In an area of the world where soccer and cricket reign, Manipuris were first captivated by baseball in the 1940s, as played by the American pilots who used their kingdom as a strategic spot to stock and launch their planes, and they remain amazingly dedicated to it.
This film contains just enough facts, figures, and footage to give us Manipur’s history and a vivid picture of its current dire situation. But Bank’s story of the women, men, and children so passionate about their game is itself wholly absorbing. The women, in particular, are especially ardent about baseball, as skilled at this game as they are at protecting their children and themselves from disease and insurgent soldier-thugs.
A bunch of American baseball fans get wind of the makeshift innings being played there and raise enough money to bring in regulation balls and bats, and, best of all, gung-ho Major League Baseball coaches.
Sometimes the Manipuris put too much stock in baseball, like so many dirt-poor dreamers do; there’s a lot of heartache. But mostly, they play for love, and this film is like another work in the canon of baseball poetry.
New York Post
By Reed Tucker
While Jon Hamm is busy looking for Indian baseball players in “Million Dollar Arm,” filmmaker Mirra Bank has already found them.
They’re in Manipur, a remote state in northeast India.
As the new documentary “The Only Real Game” details, American baseball has taken hold in this small area of a country that’s largely dominated by cricket.
Despite Babe Ruth calling baseball “the only real game in the world,” it doesn’t exactly blanket the globe. The sport was likely introduced in Manipur by American soldiers stationed there during World War II. Today, the state’s capital city, Imphal, has more than 20 clubs.
“It gives people a sense of joy and solace and relief that’s very powerful,” Bank says. And Manipur is a region in need of relief.
For centuries, it remained an independent kingdom before finally being folded into India in 1949. Many residents still desire independence, and a violent civil war has been raging since the 1980s.
“This is such a staunch and amazing people under ridiculous forms of government that rise up somehow because of the human spirit,” says Melissa Leo, the Oscar-winning actress who narrates the documentary. “It’s remarkable that when people are oppressed, if there’s the tiniest escape hatch, a crack — even the simple, funny old game of baseball — people will slip through that crack.”
One organization that’s well aware of what’s going on in Manipur is Major League Baseball. It’s sent coaches and set up camps to further the sport’s programs. As Hamm discovered in “Million Dollar Arm,” India is too big a potential market to ignore.
- 6/17/2014
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
In The Only Real Game, Mirra Bank shines a spotlight onto a nearly forgotten place, Manipur, a poor and war-torn state under martial law in northeast India.
In an area of the world where soccer and cricket reign, Manipuris were first captivated by baseball in the 1940s, as played by the American pilots who used their kingdom as a strategic spot to stock and launch their planes, and they remain amazingly dedicated to it.
This film contains just enough facts, figures, and footage to give us Manipur's history and a vivid picture of its current dire situation. But Bank's story of the women, men, and children so passionate about their game is itself wholly absorbing. The women, in particular, are especially ardent about baseball, as skilled at this game as they are a...
In an area of the world where soccer and cricket reign, Manipuris were first captivated by baseball in the 1940s, as played by the American pilots who used their kingdom as a strategic spot to stock and launch their planes, and they remain amazingly dedicated to it.
This film contains just enough facts, figures, and footage to give us Manipur's history and a vivid picture of its current dire situation. But Bank's story of the women, men, and children so passionate about their game is itself wholly absorbing. The women, in particular, are especially ardent about baseball, as skilled at this game as they are a...
- 6/4/2014
- Village Voice
Excitement governed Day 7 of the 15th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival organized by the Mumbai Association of Moving Images (Mami) and presented by Reliance Entertainment. While the penultimate day had an amazing lineup of events, it also signified that only one day of the Festival remains.
Today’s list of master pieces included Shield of Straw directed by Takashi Miike, Before Midnight directed by Richard Linklater, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives, Om Prakash Srivastava’s A Few Days More, Gloria directed by Sebastian Lelio, legendary Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar, The Sea Inside directed by Alejandro Amenabar, Costa Gavras’ Capital, Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag among many more.
A must watch on today’s list was director Mirra Bank’s “The Only Real Game”, a documentary exploring the power of baseball for people in Manipur. A small group of baseball-loving New Yorkers and two Major...
Today’s list of master pieces included Shield of Straw directed by Takashi Miike, Before Midnight directed by Richard Linklater, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives, Om Prakash Srivastava’s A Few Days More, Gloria directed by Sebastian Lelio, legendary Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar, The Sea Inside directed by Alejandro Amenabar, Costa Gavras’ Capital, Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag among many more.
A must watch on today’s list was director Mirra Bank’s “The Only Real Game”, a documentary exploring the power of baseball for people in Manipur. A small group of baseball-loving New Yorkers and two Major...
- 10/26/2013
- by Pooja Rao
- Bollyspice
Washington, May 5: It was amazing enough that in cricket-crazy India, America's national pastime baseball has found a foothold in the northeastern state of Manipur.
And now two American women, one a critically acclaimed director and the other an Academy-Award winning actress, have come together to make a movie that they say "explores the power" of the game for "people in a troubled, distant place."
Featured at the 13th New York Indian Film Festival ended Saturday, "The Only Real Game", a new documentary by Mirra Bank ("Last Dance", "Nobody's Girls") tells the story of how baseball has nurtured a dream for healing a wounded society.
And now two American women, one a critically acclaimed director and the other an Academy-Award winning actress, have come together to make a movie that they say "explores the power" of the game for "people in a troubled, distant place."
Featured at the 13th New York Indian Film Festival ended Saturday, "The Only Real Game", a new documentary by Mirra Bank ("Last Dance", "Nobody's Girls") tells the story of how baseball has nurtured a dream for healing a wounded society.
- 5/5/2013
- by Lohit Reddy
- RealBollywood.com
A still from Shahid
Hansal Mehta won the Best Director award for Shahid at the 13th New York Indian Film Festival which concluded on Saturday. Shahid is based on the life of slain human rights activist and lawyer Shahid Azmi.
Anumati by Gajendra Ahire was declared the Best Film. Vikram Gokhale won the Best Actor award for Anumati. The Marathi film revolves around a retired teacher’s attempt to save his dying wife.
Deepti Naval was declared the Best Actress for Listen Amaya while Suraj Negi won the Best Child Actor for Hansa.
Dr. Biju won the Best Screenplay for Color of Sky.
The Only Real Game by Mirra Bank was declared the Best Documentary while Khaana by Cary Sawhney won the Best Short film.
Hansal Mehta won the Best Director award for Shahid at the 13th New York Indian Film Festival which concluded on Saturday. Shahid is based on the life of slain human rights activist and lawyer Shahid Azmi.
Anumati by Gajendra Ahire was declared the Best Film. Vikram Gokhale won the Best Actor award for Anumati. The Marathi film revolves around a retired teacher’s attempt to save his dying wife.
Deepti Naval was declared the Best Actress for Listen Amaya while Suraj Negi won the Best Child Actor for Hansa.
Dr. Biju won the Best Screenplay for Color of Sky.
The Only Real Game by Mirra Bank was declared the Best Documentary while Khaana by Cary Sawhney won the Best Short film.
- 5/5/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Still from Dekh Tamasha Dekh
The 13 New York Indian Film Festival will open with Feroze Abbas Khan’s political satire Dekh Tamasha Dekh and close with Nitin Kakkar’s Filmistaan. The festival will be held from April 30 – May 4, 2013.
This year the festival will screen 22 Indian features, all having their New York City premieres.
Khan’s 108 minute film Dekh Tamasha Dekh explores a country where bizarre is normal through a poor man in search for his religious identity. While Kakkar’s 117 minute film Filmistaan connects humans and cultures through cinema.
The festival will celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema with the screenings of Rudradeep Bhattacharjee’s The Human Factor, Jaideep Varma’s Baavra Mann, Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, M S Sathyu’s Garam Hawa and Uday Shankar’s Kalpana. Whereas, Hansal Mehta’s Shahid will be presented under the Centrepiece section and Amit Gupta’s Jadoo under Special Screening.
The 13 New York Indian Film Festival will open with Feroze Abbas Khan’s political satire Dekh Tamasha Dekh and close with Nitin Kakkar’s Filmistaan. The festival will be held from April 30 – May 4, 2013.
This year the festival will screen 22 Indian features, all having their New York City premieres.
Khan’s 108 minute film Dekh Tamasha Dekh explores a country where bizarre is normal through a poor man in search for his religious identity. While Kakkar’s 117 minute film Filmistaan connects humans and cultures through cinema.
The festival will celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema with the screenings of Rudradeep Bhattacharjee’s The Human Factor, Jaideep Varma’s Baavra Mann, Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, M S Sathyu’s Garam Hawa and Uday Shankar’s Kalpana. Whereas, Hansal Mehta’s Shahid will be presented under the Centrepiece section and Amit Gupta’s Jadoo under Special Screening.
- 4/6/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
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