‘Sparni’: A Film About Mental Health Striking a Chord

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Join the Pulitzer Center for a virtual screening on World Health Day of Sparni, a film by 2024 Columbia Journalism Reporting Fellows Ania Gruszczyńska and Nathan Siegelaub.

The film is about Pierce “Sparni” Sparnroft (they/them), a jazz vibraphonist plying the craft at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

Sparni’s prospects on the vibes were rejuvenated by a new professor, the world-renowned Steve Nelson, and were to be showcased during a student-driven recital in May 2023. But all the while, Sparni faced a crisis within.

Since childhood, Sparni has endured bouts of hyperactivity followed by depressive crashes. A new diagnosis and a poor experience with psychiatrists brought matters to a head in 2022.

Sparni is the story of a young person’s quest to make the most of their musical gifts. It is an intimate exploration of life with a mental illness in a country where scores of children and teenagers are struggling with similar conditions, seeking help from a healthcare system in serious need of reinforcements and repair, and, crucially, craving a forum to discuss these issues.

Through interviews, animation, narrative rap songs, and scenes unfolding in real time, Sparni brings these issues into sharp focus.

The film will begin at 6:00pm and last for approximately 30 minutes. At 6:30pm, we will hold an hour-long conversation featuring the filmmakers, Sparni, and Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, a mood disorders expert and bestselling author from Johns Hopkins. Micah Fink, an award-winning Pulitzer Center journalist grantee and founder of Common Good Productions, will moderate. We will wrap up at 7:30pm. 

Register here.