Exonians to Host Short Film Pre-Release Event

A man walks down a dark hallway of an abandoned hospital and glances up at the camera as he recounts haunting stories of early immigrants struggling to reach New York so they could start new lives. His shoes brush over the hundreds of portraits of these early immigrants spread out across the floor, making for a dramatic backdrop for the short film “Ellis,” which will screen at Exeter this Friday.

Seniors Caroline del Real and Annie Ning will host this screening of “Ellis,” filmed by a French photographer who goes by the pseudonym JR. The event will be hosted by a collaboration with Democracy of Sound (DoS), DRAMAT, WORD and Illuminosity. The 14 minute and 39 second film, written by Academy Award winner Eric Roth and directed by JR, features Robert de Niro as he recounts tales of early immigration while he strolls through the haunting ruins of the Ellis Island Hospital.

The Academy is among the first few communities selected to view the film before it is released to the wider public. It will be open and free for all students and faculty at the Academy, as well as for anyone from the town of Exeter.

“It is a very high profile piece of art. We are so lucky to have this early viewing of the film and to be able to host this screening.”

“It’s something for everybody,” del Real said. “There’s a lot connected to it both visually and emotionally, and there is some aspect that will be interesting or engaging to really any kind of person.”

The roots of this Friday’s event came from a lower year photography class, when art instructor Steven Lewis introduced del Real to JR and his large, dramatic black-and-white photos that can be found in various public places; one current example is a large image of a man standing on a raft, pasted onto the side of the John Hancock building in Boston. In Los Angeles, he displayed blown up pictures of elderly faces on public walls. In Palestinian and Israeli cities eight years ago, JR painted portraits of faces from both sides of the conflict in an effort to quell tensions in that region of the Middle East.

In late October, del Real discovered the Ellis screening competition. She submitted an application, which consisted of a photography portfolio and a “tell us your story” written section, on the last day of the month, and received a reply shortly thereafter on Nov. 1. On behalf of the Academy, she had won the right to screen the film on campus. As part of the Tribeca Film Festival’s screening initiative, del Real and Ning had to chose a screening date between Nov. 9 and 22 and include an inventive project design inspired by JR’s work.

To help plan the innovative side, del Real asked DoS co-head and senior Annie Ning, who is also involved in DRAMAT and WORD. The two were told that many other locations had chosen to project the film onto the sides of brick buildings, but with the Academy’s resources, they decided to do even more.

Ning said that after watching the film, she analyzed JR’s effects and hoped to imitate similar  “layered” effects for the event. “The color schemes, the layers and the way JR creates the space of the film were very abstract and innovative—he takes these photographs and sticks them on the walls and floor,” she said. “We wanted to figure out how to transform the space we were in to have a similar effect.”

According to lower Rachel Luo, the event will also feature a large collage of portraits of people merged with immigrant photos to help further visualize the setting in the film. “The photos will definitely add a personal aspect, as well as bring some of the focus of the event onto Exeter,” she said. In the unadorned Assembly Hall, from 7 to 8 p.m., the film will be played on loop. In the storied marble lobby, however, del Real and DoS leaders have decided to project the footage onto scrim netting, a lightweight and translucent material that distorts light.

Some of del Real’s work will line the sides of the lobby and the nearby staircases, as well as hand-decorated poetry banners and large-scale photography. WORD and DRAMAT are scheduled to give performance readings concerning immigration and diverse experiences. Lastly, Illuminosity, the Academy’s fire-dancing team, will perform outside of the Academy Building’s main entrance.

Music instructor and DoS club adviser Jon Sakata, who has been very involved in planning the event, praised del Real and Ning’s ability to show the process of creating art, which he believes is not just a matter of what you make, but also how and why you go about realizing it. “Their initiative here is a real social-cultural activism to bring a whole cast of participants and populations together through ELLIS...,” he said. “I cannot think of a better response to JR’s work engaging with immigration and collective experience than what they are doing.”

However, the event came with some challenges. The project was planned under very limited time constraints, as del Real was not informed she had received rights to the show until the very beginning of November. According to del Real, since then, the project has been very “draining,” since it has had the structure of a senior project, but neither del Real or Ning are receiving credit.

Still, both del Real and Ning are confident in their group’s ability to pull off the project. Ning explained that, by opening the event up to the entire Exeter community, she hopes to show people in and out of the Academy the significance of the event and will encourage more people to attend.

Ning also went on to explain why students at the Academy should come see the film and stressed the way in which JR “beautifully” ties aspects of art, photography and narration together.

“If not for the event itself, I think the students should come just to see the film,” she said. “It is a very high profile piece of art. We are so lucky to have this early viewing of the film and to be able to host this screening. It’s not something you’re going to want to miss.”