On Friday, Dec. 15, at 7:00 p.m. in the Little Theater, Archie Williams ComAcad students showed their short documentaries, part of a project called American Arguments. The doors to the Little Theater opened at 6:30 PM, and the show started at 7:00 PM. ComAcad teachers Morgan Paar, Greg Doherty and Francie Salle oversaw the projects, and dedicated portions of their class time for the students to work on their short films throughout the last three months.
The event featured a wide variety of topics that students chose for their projects, ranging from Environmental Racism to Gene Editing. Two Q&A’s were included in the showing, one halfway through the event, and one at the end. An intermission followed the first Q&A, in which the ComAcad students went outside to discuss the first half of the show, and their takeaways.
One of the short films, “Your Body Our Choice,” focused on abortion rights, and the film explained Roe vs. Wade and the effect it had on abortion healthcare. The student group, which consisted of Claire Kersell, Charlie Arcenal, Alex Martinez and Alex Baker, interviewed a woman who had an abortion years ago, and explained how hard it was for her to talk about, as she recalled a challenging time. “Your Body Our Choice” also included other women’s stories, and discussions on their experiences with abortion, spreading awareness about the support system Roe v. Wade initially had before being overturned.
Another one of the films, Gender Affirming Care, showed the struggles to get quality gender-affirming care in the U.S. It followed parts of Lou Sullivan’s life, a trans man who underwent gender-affirming surgery, and, with other members of the Trans community, explained how crucial gender-affirming care is.
“It truly is wonderful how good I feel,” Sullivan said in the documentary, regarding life after his surgery.
ComAcad students each used their unique skill sets to contribute to their group success, and spread awareness on their chosen topic. Some students said their goal was to bring topics that aren’t commonly discussed to light, and to share stories and messages through their short films.
“I think the purpose of this event is to spread stories in history and current issues that haven’t really been discussed very much,” Claire said.
Senior Oliver Valerio, also a student in ComAcad, contributed to his group’s (the “Iron Rider’s Promise”) success with his prowess and particular interest in film editing. Oliver thought the purpose of this event was to both educate students and prepare the ComAcad students for a project later in the school year, called Original Shorts. This project focused on team building for him, in preparation for the larger, second semester project.
“It’s a long haul, you have to have a good group work ethic every day in ComAcad,” Oliver said.
The ComAcad students were all eager to show the projects that they had worked on for months to an almost full house. Able to share their stories and real-life historical events, the students hope that the people in the audience took something away from the experience, and they now prepare for their next film project in the spring, Original Shorts.
