Pierre Van Cortlandt MS Students Share Messages At School's Film Fest

From Pierre Van Cortlandt: Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School students in Croton-on- Hudson shared positive messages at the school’s second annual Film Festival.

“I wonder, am I creating in myself the person I want to be?” is the theme of this year’s PVC Advisory program, taken from R.J. Palacio’s book “Wonder.” The student filmmakers were challenged to interpret precepts from “Wonder” in the films they created this year.

Five films were shown at this year’s festival:

• “Good Deeds” by Nishant Dash, Martin Kotlar and Rachel Liebler
• “Kindness Matters” by Khadia Abam-DePass and Oliver Asch-Mei
• “Play It Again” by Evan Hunt
• “The Popular Insignia” by Faith Papertsian and Michelle Sun
• “Your Deeds Are Your Monuments” by Gwen Labbate, Jamie Pollak and Phoebe Turner

“The enthusiasm is wonderful,” said district director of technology Deborah August. “I am awed by the quality of the films and the festival committee did a great job.” Before each film was played, a student read the related precept from “Wonder,” which PVC Assistant Principal Michael Plotkin introduced as a book every student reads by sixth-grade. After the screenings, trophies for the first, second and third place films were awarded. Congratulations to: “Your Deeds Are Your Monuments” (first place), “Good Deeds” (second place) and “Play It Again” (third place). Dash, a seventh-grade student, said he is passionate about making films and creates videos for a YouTube channel.

“I’ve always loved the idea of making films,” he said. “In our film, you will see that with good deeds, you can create happiness.”

New this year was a club fair preceding the film screenings. Advisors and student representatives from the school’s clubs, including the Art Club, Chess Club, Club Dirt, Coding Club, Drama Zclub, Homework Club, International Club, Math Olympiad, modified field hockey team, PRIDE Club, Quebec Squad, Social Action Club, spring musical, Student Council, Teen Leadership Council and Yearbook were present.

“The club fair fit in perfectly with our advisory theme because clubs and extracurriculars allow students to express more about themselves,” said media and communications teacher Johanna Mustacchi, who also serves on the film festival committee. “It’s wonderful that all of the clubs stepped up.”

Images Courtesy of Pierre Van Cortlandt MS