Suburban teens compete in annual Student Silent Film Festival

There was a time in the latter half of the 1920s when films were silent, using only the expressions and movements of actors, a piano or an organ, and an occasional narration card to tell a story.

It was a genre that lasted less than a decade, until the advent of "talking" movies.

But a meeting of three local men at a high school media educators event in 2017 would breathe new life into this genre by introducing silent movies to teenagers.

Hinsdale animator Ed Newmann, 65; Bill Allan, 47, media director at Lyons Township High School; and Clarendon Hills musician and teacher Derek Berg, 45, agreed any film student would benefit from exposure to this segment of film history. They bonded, brainstormed and created a silent film festival.

The Student Silent Film Festival was born, and has been staged every year since 2017 at the Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington Hills, where the winning film entries are shown, accompanied by an 8,000-pipe Wurlitzer organ - the largest privately owned in the world - that rises from the floor of the theater in the 52,000-square-foot main house.

The competition has grown from 13 diverse entries provided by 150 Northwest suburban students the first year to 15 submissions from nearly 300 participants in 2020. Experientially, some of the students had taken multiple media classes, while others were merely active in school clubs.

During the 2019 festival, which was held Nov. 9, the first-place trophy went to the Mundelein High School team headed by Ander Nuttall, 17, and student cast members Hadyn Nuttal, Roy Dumblauskas, Derek Lee and Chris Nacion for the entry "Skateboard Jungle."

Ander said he found it a challenge to write a film without dialogue.

"With silent films, you need more action. Since there is (no) sound, you need to keep the audience visually engaged," he said. "You need to look at the theme and come up with the craziest idea you can think of."

His script dictated the skills the cast required, such as inline skating and skateboarding.

The Vernon Hills High School team, headed by senior Jim Altschul and photography director Sebastian Domenech, along with cast members Brianna Grzesiak, Zach Paulsen, David Franklin and Veronica Pomogaeva, won second place for "The Duelist."

Neuqua Valley High School's team of Liam Stephens and Yusum Alauddin, including cast/crew members Claire Rusin, Natalie Boland, Kevin Shaffer and Nolan Manke, and their film "Visitor" tied for third with York High School's team of Charlie Cripe, Julia Brandt and Lauren Marquardt, along with cast members Leo Brandt, Rachel Bricker and Skyy Campose, for "Leo's Lemonade."

The idea is for student teams to develop silent movies and submit them for competition to be judged remotely by professionals who consider the quality of camera work, editing and lighting, as well as story narrative and development.

During the festival, each entry is shown, accompanied by an original piano score composed and played by Berg. For the top winners, renowned theater organist Jiladi Eddington accompanies the film with an original organ composition. Students are allowed unlimited use of both compositions.

The festival's founding trio provides a lot of educational background in advance about silent film and strategies for visual storytelling.

"The challenge of telling a story purely through visual means is fun and very different for them," Allan said.

The 300-seat Sanfilippo Estate theater festival venue adds a dash of panache, with its large collection of antique instruments, music boxes, nickelodeons and more.

The Sanfilippo family and estate actively helps nonprofit organizations. Established in 2007, the foundation helps preserve the collection and manage charity events.

Being able to hold the event there "sets our festival apart entirely," Allan said. "The first year was truly magical. We were shocked by how much the students enjoyed the entire experience, (including) the opportunity to experience all the instruments, arcade machines, (refurbished antique carousel) and much more."

York High School's Charlie Cripe said, as silent film is a dying art form, the festival was a chance to bring it to life in the modern age.

"It is really cool and special," he said.

Vernon Hills High School's team did not have the benefit of media classes, but did a lot of the work on their own with support from a faculty adviser.

"We just have a group of kids who like doing short films in our free time," student Jim Altschul said, adding about 20 students meet weekly with an adviser who provides equipment, answers questions and helps locate resources.

"The festival forces you to consider film production from a different perspective."

Registration is underway and ends Friday, March 20, for the 2020 festival, which is set for Nov. 14 at the Sanfilippo Estate. To register and for information about rules and regulations, visit studentsilentfilmfestival.com.