Film Spotlighting The Struggles Of Mental Illness Premieres In Jamestown

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JAMESTOWN – A locally produced film spotlighting real world struggles of mental illness is slated to premiere in Jamestown this week.

Filmmaker Travis Carlson’s movie “Mother’s Day” will make its local debut at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts on Saturday. Carlson began production during the height of the pandemic in 2020 filming in Gerry.

“The local community helped very much in allowing that to be safe and successful,” Carlson furthered. “Other than that I think people feel very moved and relate to the characters because it is such a grounded story, I think one that provides hope but also a genuine deeper experience of relationships whether it’s mental health or just families.”

Carlson’s film focuses on mental illness, showcasing the challenges related with caring with a loved one with the disease.

“It’s a very honest personal story about families struggling with mental health, and I just looked up the stats today, it’s incredible like one in five adults are experiencing that and one in three young people, so it’s really almost everyone,” explained Carlson

Since the initial screening of the film in Buffalo last year, the filmmaker received a lot of feedback.

“We have a very ambitious opening shot where a drone flys over two miles over the Gerry countryside which is beautiful, and that gets a lot of response. A lot of people talk about that as being something they haven’t quite seen before,” Carlson said

In the end Carlson says his aim is to share his authentic story with others.

“Our goal was to just tell a story that was, like I said, honest and real. I think Hollywood a lot of times embellishes or commodifies mental health or it doesn’t really portray it,” Carlson continued. “Doing it in this way, grassroots way, I think I did a lot.”