We're big proponents of escapism. There's nothing like sitting down in a theater with popcorn and a soda and getting lost in another world where the rent isn't due in six days.
That's why when April rolls around and the Tribeca Film Festival gears up for another round of comedies and dramas, it provides us with a week and a half of relaxing breaks from the real-world. But every once in a while a documentary pops up that calls us to take a closer look at the world we live in and take action—such is the case with "Baseball in the Time of Cholera."
Filmmakers David Darg and Bryn Mooser co-directed the documentary that follows the story of Joseph. He's a young boy who joins a baseball league the directors started and begins to experience Haiti's cholera epidemic firsthand—an epidemic the UN is responsible for despite their denial. As victims grow and the disease spreads, the fight for survival and justice begins.
Olivia Wilde is an executive producer on the doc and MTV News sat down with the actress to talk about the film and her involvement. She told us she's "so proud" to be involved in the documentary because it tells the tragic and scandalous sides of the cholera epidemic "in a very human way."
"Statistics mean nothing. They're nameless, and this film brings it down to a very personal story about a kid named Joseph who is a pitcher in the little league team and you really get to know him. You get to know his family, and then you see how cholera affects him personally and tragically takes the life of his mother. So it's an unbelievable story."
She believes the documentary works because Darg and Mooser are familiar with the community and culture of Haiti. "They work in Haiti for different organizations and they've done that for years," she said. "What you're getting by watching this film is a really unique perspective. It's not just outsiders dropping into a country and trying to make a film, you know? I think that's one of the things that makes it so exciting."
Are you interested in seeing "Baseball in the Time of Cholera"? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!
For more information on the film, visit BaseballInTheTimeOfCholera.com or Undeny.com.
