‘Amazing experience’
Silent film fest pits Shepard teacher’s team against her daughter, but for both it was an
Jodi Pelini, digital media teacher at Alan B. Shepard High School in Palos Heights, has wanted her students to participate in the Student Silent Film Festival since she first heard about it a few years ago. After her team entered this year’s contest, she learned she’d have one more reason to attend: Her daughter was competing as well.
“My mom talked about it at dinner, and I kind of entered it on my own and pitched it to my teachers,” said Bella Pelini, a senior at Victor J. Andrew High School in Tinley Park.
Jodi Pelini said it’s not surprising that her daughter entered the festival.
“My daughter has been going to my students’ film competitions since she was a baby and she even had a few starring roles in several of their projects as a child so I guess it was natural that she would be drawn to becoming a filmmaker herself,” she said. “I don’t think either team went into this process thinking only about winning.”
Rather, both teams “deserve all the accolades that come with seeing their final film on the big screen,” she said.
Though her students Daniella Ramirez Prado and Saidah Diab would be pitted against her daughter in the contest, things never got awkward at home.
“I tried to guide both teams through the whole process,” she said before the event.
“Interestingly enough, they separately came up with similar storylines for their films. I
“Their themes were similar, but the way they portrayed that idea in their films was very different.”
— Jodi Pelini on the films created by her students and her daughter
think that their own experience as young female artists is what inspired them to focus on the theme of finding your inner strength to be true to yourself. Their themes were similar, but the way they portrayed that idea in their films was very different.”
She said her daughter sought her opinion after she was done editing her film. “I asked her ‘Do you want to hear the opinion of your mom? Or do you want the truth?’ She ended up reediting the project about three more times. And it was no different with my students. Their rough draft was 10 minutes long and after they reedited it, they got it down to six minutes.”
Bella Pelini agreed there were no awkward moments talking about the festival. “It’s the opposite. We joke about it a lot,” she said before the event. “I think we’re really excited to see where it goes and if one of us wins, what will happen.”
During the festival last week, student filmmakers from 11 Chicago area schools showed their silent films on the big screen at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove. They were judged based on the quality of the story narrative, development, lighting, camera work and editing. Each participant received a high-definition digital file of the movie with the accompanying soundtrack.
The event was created in 2017 by Ed Newmann, founder of Calabash Animation; Bill Allan, supervisor of Television Services at Lyons Township High School; and Derek Berg, founder and CEO of Clarendon Hills Music Academy. Berg provided live musical accompaniment.
“I have been teaching for 23 years, but this is the first time that my students will watch their project on a big screen at an actual movie theater for a big audience. And not just any theater,” Jodi Pelini said. “The Tivoli Theatre is unbelievably beautiful and inspiring! Plus to have a professional musician creating music for their movie .... that is an amazing experience for a teenage filmmaker.”
From the time her team registered on Oct. 28, they had six weeks to write the script, storyboard their shots, film it and edit it.
“And we needed every second,” she said. “I estimate that Bella spent 15 hours filming and 20 hours editing, while my Shepard team spent 20 hours filming and 20 hours editing. It was down to the wire, with Saidah and Daniella reediting the film in the last hours before the deadline.”
Her team’s entry was titled “The Art of Waking,” and her daughter’s film was titled “Breaking.” Neither film made it to the top three, but everyone involved thinks the results were fair.
Because Jodi Pelini’s students are just sophomores, “we were not looking to win. They were just excited to be there and to see their film,” she said. “They took advantage of the red carpet affair. Their actors came and their camera crew. They’re already inspired for next year, so we’ll be back.”
She said her daughter wasn’t disappointed “because there were films there that were clearly stronger and she knew that as soon as she saw them. For her, too, I think the experience was once in a lifetime to see what it’s like to have people watch her film and react to it.”
Bella Pelini said the winning films “definitely deserved it. They were incredible. The quality of the camera was insane. Super clear shots. Really well put together storylines. Story ideas I never would have thought of with that theme — movies I never thought high school students could put together in a short amount of time.”
She said although the festival was mainly what she expected, she’d never been to one on that scale. “And to have live music composed for your film was awesome,” she shared. “It was exciting to see someone else make art attached to your film.”
Another welcome aspect was being around so much talent. “Having so many creatives there and everyone is having a super fun time, it was enjoyable.”
She advised students to give making films a try if they think they’ll like it. “If you don’t think you’re going to win, it’s still a nice experience and something fun that you can look back on. Win or lose, it’s something you can have fun with.”
The senior said the silent film project taught her “how to rely on visuals for effects instead of relying on words and people saying what they mean.”
She may need that experience in the future.
“I’m planning to major in film next year, and it’s definitely because of my mom and her job and growing up around theater and what I like and don’t like about film,” she said.
Jodi Pelini is proud of what her daughter and students achieved.
“When I think of how much my daughter and my Shepard students have accomplished, I can only imagine the kind of films they will create later in life. It is pretty inspiring to think how their passion and vision will grow exponentially from here,” she said.