Student Filmmakers Heading to Tribeca

Students in Scott Seraydarian’s ’90 advanced film class, Melaina Young’s ’93 IB HL American literature class, and Meredith Alford’s ’01 IB global politics class, joined forces to create films for the Speak Truth Video Competition sponsored by Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Human Rights. It was George School’s first year entering the competition, and all four submissions made the final round.

The grand prize winner, Rodney Glasgow: The Power of a Whisper, a film by Julia Carrigan ’20, will be screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in May. The judges this year were Kerry Kennedy, president of RFK Human Rights, and actors Keegan-Michael Key, Alfie Woodward, and Matt McCoy. They were impressed with the value, quality, writing, and substance of Julia’s film.

“It means so much to me to be going to Tribeca,” said Julia. “It is the opportunity of a lifetime, that I dreamed of attending. And in a few short weeks, it will be a reality.”

The competition received 1,000 entries this year, and only one hundred made the final round, four of which belonged to George School. While Julia’s film was the grand prize winner, the judges sent along admiration for the other student films as well. Chris Chan ’19 made a film about Emma Schneider ’19 and her work fighting against gun violence. Jalsa Drinkard ’20 directed a film featuring Jacqueline Evans and her work fighting against the PennEast Pipeline, and Prabh Kaur’s ’20 film featured Jill Loyden’s work combating domestic violence.

From script writing and cinematography, to research and sound editing, more than twenty students collaborated on this film project with Julia. Jayde Dieu ’20, who served on the writing team said, “There was a lot of pressure at the beginning to tell Rodney’s story well, but as the process went along it started to become all of our stories since his message resonated with us so much. I appreciated that the films didn’t have neat endings tied with a bow, but recognized that the work towards defending human rights is a process.”

“I am so grateful for all the people who made this happen, and there were so many of them,” said Julia. “It has all come together in such a wonderful, exciting, and beautiful way. I am glad to get recognition for all the work I did in the process, but there are so many more people who also deserve the gratitude and acknowledgement and thanks.”

Power in a Whisper, Rodney Glasgow, will be screened at the Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday, May 5. The screening is free and open to the public.

Film credits: Cinematography: John Fort ’19; Assistant Camera: Walter Owino Wagude ’20; Sound: Digital Juice, Sahib Singh ’21; Assistant Sound: Crystal Rowell ’21; Starring: Rodney Glasgow, Jalsa Drinkard ’20; Featuring: Rohan Arjun ’05, Rebecca Missonis, Meredith Alford ’01, Maddie Keith ’19; Research Team: Miranda Buczek ’19, Will Rampe ’20, Alice Yang ’19, Faith Friendshuh ’20, Rachel Brown ’20, Ava Doty ’20, Lexie Osbourne ’20, Kate Levesque ’20, Julia Carriagan ’20; Writing Team: Jalsa Drinkard ’20, Jayde Dieu ’20, Aiknoor Kaur ’20, Walter Owino Wagude ’20, Eden Jones ’20, TK Mpela ’20, Sam Coscia ’20, Spencer Stockhammer ’20, Raven Zhang ’20, Julia Carrigan ’20, Melaina Young ’93; Extras: Shumpei Chosa ’19, Isaac Lee ’19, Frederic Perera ’21; Prabhnoor Kaur ’20, Lauren Scott ’20, Shaina Gonzalez ’19, Chris Chan ’19, Julia Carrigan ’20, John Fort ’19.