Film On Baseball and Political Turmoil in Manipur, India

[This documentary film was shown the other evening at the Asian Film Festival in New York City. The film was done by a good friend, Mirra Bank, and my wife, the Executive Editor of MORE magazine, later interviewed Mirra for the MORE website. I thought that the RPCV Community, especially PCV who served in India, would like to know about the film, and would enjoy reading the interview.]

One Woman’s Power of Persistence

Award-winning director Mirra Bank heard about the plight of a people halfway around the world and decided she wanted to help-but it took six years. Here, the story of what she did, the film she made (“The Only Real Game”), the obstacles she overcame…and how you can help now

by Judith Coyne

Devika, a mother in Manipur, India, hopes to support her family by becoming a baseball coach.Photograph: Axel Baumann for Baseball Dreams, LLC

More: The film, The Only Real Game, is wonderful-detailed and absorbing, and very inspiring without being sentimental. How do you think the film will help Manipur?

MB: It’s like many other problems in the world-shed light on it, bring attention to it, bear witness, and then there’s a chance that something will change.

More: The film depicts the political and economic situation in Manipur, but also a specific recent episode: when Major League Baseball International sent over two American representatives to train Manipuris. How did that come about, and what was the idea behind it?

More at: http://www.more.com/news/womens-issues/one-womans-power-persistence