By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — The first “Westport Young Filmmakers Forum” on Tuesday will mark the public premiere of five short films, all of them created by Staples High School students.

The films were created in the Independent Learning Experience program (ILE) at Staples, which gives students the opportunity to work independently or collaboratively on a passion project for a semester or the entire academic year.  A filmmaking project is the first step for many of the students into a film, graphic or related career, according to Lauren Bullock, a teacher in the Staples media department and advisor for the film program.

“These kids are so talented and capable — I just encourage them to keep producing and keep making films,” she said. “They are definitely high-quality films that are entertaining and very provocative, touching on subjects that these kids are dealing with, and very creative.”

The films were produced during the 2021-22 class year and three of the students: Leah Chapman, Jacob Friedman and Tate Mullineaux are now in college. Three others, Elen Macaluso, Jack Rein and Ben Seiderman are seniors at Staples this year.

“As someone who has been infatuated with the arts for almost my entire life, I’ve always been drawn to the beauty incorporated into a well-crafted film,” said Elen Macaluso, whose film, “Sincerely Nadia,” is about a high school girl struggling with mental health issues. “There’s a lot of emotion that goes into a single piece of art such as a film,” she said.

Ben Seideman followed his passion for film for his ILE project, but said that the beauty of the program is that students can choose to follow individual interests. 

“My brother, whose passion is cooking, did an ILE based on that,” he said. But Ben chose filmmaking, something he had been interested in for a long time. 

“I saw an opportunity to create my own short film as professionally as I could, to gain the true experience of writing, planning, directing, shooting, editing, agonizing and everything else that comes with making a film.” 

Seideman’s film, “Edges of Love,” is about a twisted game of betrayal, manipulation and psychosis.

Bullock’s primary contact at the Westport Library for the project was Jennifer Bangser, with whom she collaborated to produce the Young Filmmakers Forum. Bangser, the director of strategic community partnerships for the library, also has an interest in filmmaking.

The library is the perfect place for the first public screening of the students’ films, Bangser said, because of the quality of the production facility there and because educating young people is “one of the cornerstones of the library.”

Bullock will be the moderator for the forum, which will include a discussion with the young filmmakers after the screenings.

“It’s one thing to create a film, but you have to learn how to talk about your films — for future funders, be able to talk to an audience about your work,” Bangser said. “It’s a learning environment as well.”

The students’ approach to filmmaking was professional, Bullock said, entailing the preparation of a detailed proposal, through creating storyboards, drawing up production documents, filming and editing. “They have to document all the details,” she said.

She is encouraging members of the public, including other students, to attend Tuesday’s event. The screening was purposely scheduled during this holiday week, she said, so the three filmmakers who graduated last year could be part of the forum.

Senior Jack Rein, whose film, “Crucible,” is about a child suffering from domestic violence, said he found ILE “was a great program and I recommend any student take the challenge … 

“I was heavily inspired to take advantage of the fantastic ILE program to practice doing what I love, which is creating films,” he added.

The Westport Young Filmmaker’s Forum will take place Tuesday, Dec. 20, at the Westport Library, 20 Jesup Road. A reception is set at 6:30 p.m., followed by the screenings at 7 o’clock. Register for the free program by clicking here. For more information, call the library at 203-291-4800.

___________________________________

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and currently teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.