Dan Parris believes that filmmaking is a great activity because it incorporates every kind of art. He shares his passion for film with high school students in his role of Project Director for Pentimento: The St. Louis Story Mapping Project. An initiative of the Midwest Center for Media Literacy in cooperation with Speakup Productions and Studio STL, the project enables inner city high school students to learn the art and business of filmmaking.
In its third year, Pentimento is open to students from Roosevelt High School and Clyde C. Miller Career Academy. Students must apply and then go through an interview process. Participants are paid, so they also learn live skills such as showing up on time, opening and maintaining a bank account and managing their time and money. They also learn the art of story-telling through film. The students are encouraged to find topics in their neighborhood and then each one is noted as a place on a map of St. Louis.
On Sunday, July 14, 9 films from the Pentimento project will be screened as part of Cinema St. Louis’ 20123 St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase. Two of them are “The Sheldon” which was produced Marrtell Washington and “What’s That Smell?” which was produced by Quinsonta Boyd. “The Sheldon” is centered on the activities in the Grand Center’s Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries and the possibility that it is inhabited by a ghost. Boyd’s film examines the change in the food served at Roosevelt High School. While the original intent was to be critical of the food, Boyd learned that the difference was due to a concerted effort to make the food more healthy in keeping with First Lady Michelle Obama’s obesity initiative.
Dan Parris, Marrtell Washington and Quinsonta Boyd were Don Marsh’s guests on St. Louis on the Air to talk about the Pentimento project and the screening on Sunday.
Related Event
Cinema St. Louis St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase Presents "Pentimento: The St. Louis Storymapping Project"
Sunday, July 14, 2013
12:30 p.m.
Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd.
(314) 289-4150
Cinema St. Louis Website
