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Hingham is locale for native filmmaker's focus on mental health, suicide

Wicked Local South/Mariner - 7/15/2021

Jul. 15—Growing up on Turkey Hill Lane, just down the street from Hingham'sWeir River Farm, Colin Charles Dale could often be found running around with the neighborhood kids on Sherwood Road, making movies with a VHS camcorder.

Now, a 2020 graduate of the University of Southern California'sSchool of Cinematic Arts, Dale will be privately screening his first feature-length film, "Magnolia Flowers," at Loring Hall on Friday.

The drama, shot in Hingham, focuses on the story of a college-aged woman, Caitlyn Doyle, played by Emma Waters, who struggles with mental health issues including depression, and recounts the events that led to a suicide attempt.

"I think it is a really honest examination of the subject matter that I don't think I've seen in other movies that have tried to explain the same thing," Dale said.

Dale said other films that explore mental health struggles tend to make a "spectacle" out of it or simply get it wrong. He said mental health issues are not "easily solvable" and sometimes they are not solvable at all.

Dale said he drew from his own experiences with mental health including obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and depression, and worked that into the story of "Magnolia Flowers."

"I feel like the movie sort of de-mythologizes the therapeutic process too," Dale said. "I feel like it takes a lot of work to bring yourself out of these sort of psychological pits that you can wind up in and I think a lot of other movies, want or try to make it seem like these things are solvable through some sort of sentimentality."

Dale said people have tried to provide "quick and ready solutions" when in reality, it is a "process."

Although Dale is currently completing a 2-year screenwriting fellowship in Hollywood, he came back to Hingham to film Magnolia Flowers. The film was shot in the span of three weeks after a year of preparation, which included confirming locations, costumes, production design for scenes and equipment rentals.

Using his childhood home to film most of the movie, as well as locations around town, Dale said Hingham is a "centerpiece" of the movie.

"I really built sort of the beauty of the town into the story and into the way it was shot and everything," Dale said.

The cast also includes Hingham locals Sam Vita, who plays Connell, a brother of Doyle, and Matt Haggerty, who plays the friend of one of Doyle's younger brothers.

Dale said he has changed significantly since he began making the film. He's gone to therapy and grown as a person and said his own journey "runs parallel to the making of the movie."

"I think just getting to watch it over and over is so rewarding," Dale said.

Dale said watching the movie with friends and family during private screenings and seeing their reactions and being proud of what he has accomplished has also been a rewarding part of the process.

Although Dale said although it seems difficult for people to talk about the film immediately after watching, he said reactions have been "really intense" which he said is a good sign as it means they were affected by it.

"I hope that they get out of it that you can go through hell in your mind and live to tell the tale and...a lot of people go through that and that's a really meaningful journey," Dale said. "This main character is proof of that."

In the future, Dale said he hopes to submit "Magnolia Flowers" to film festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival among others. That is the reason for not premiering for the general public at this time, he said.

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