West Orange High School showcases student films

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Burgeoning filmmakers were in the spotlight at West Orange High School as their movies premiered on May 15 at the school’s second Film Festival.

“These movies were made while the students went to school, took tests, played on varsity teams, turned in projects, and participated in other clubs. It’s hard to make a movie. It is even harder under those circumstances,” said Screenwriter’s Society advisor and film festival overseer Tynia Thomassie.

“In a world of reels, selfies and TikToks, it looks so easy to piece together a short video. But these 10 students made short movies and they put their vulnerabilities, their isolation, their passions, fears, frustrations and their wonder on the screen for you tonight,” she said at the premiere.
This year the student-selected theme for the film festival was “Behind the Scenes, Beyond the Student.”

Ten films were shown:
• “Ollie” by Isabella Davis;
• “Black and White” by Amelie Swayze;
• “A Day in the Life of Mr. Skully Bones” by Dominic Fondetto;
• “Disregarded” by Ayanna Jones;
• “Boxed In” by Haley Goldberg and Jacob Schulman;
• “The Magic of Railroads and Steam” by Jonathan Mason Jr.;
• “Orchard” by Basil Lyons;
• “A Fresh Start” by Elena Hause & Morgan Lanzot-Woodridge;
• “Claire’d” by Sean Harrington and James Derr;
• “ Here, Me” by Ethan Szymanski.
• “Black and White,” “Boxed In” and “A Fresh Start” were created for the 10-Day Film Challenge in Wendy Mapes’ Theater classes. The challenge had several rules including that the lead character ‘s name must be Sam Derbish and be either an optimist or a pessimist; a cardboard box must be used as a prop, and the line “Well, well, well…what do we have here?” must be used in the film. Students had to spin a genre wheel and randomly select the genre they would tackle, according to a press release from the school.

Three animated shorts, one documentary, and four additional short films were included in the festival. Following the showing, there was a question-and-answer period with creators and cast members.

The evening ended with a video chat that included director and writer Brett Glassberg, who directed the horror film “Derelicts” and writer, director, and editor Matt Stryker, a WOHS grad who recently received an award at Sundance Film Festival for “When I Left You on that Boulevard.” Both filmmakers had previously viewed the films and provided feedback and commentary.

“Having more people in the audience than chairs is a happy problem and I couldn’t have been more proud of the producers, directors and actors,” Thomassie said. “They communicated their vision, delivered impressive final products, and they showed their tenacity by crossing the finish line. I’m most proud that each filmmaker had a profound learning experience in making their movies. That made me the happiest. Every grade level was represented, and a wide array of stories were told. That made all the work worth it.”