Learning the Value of Small Blessings

FILM

Silent Blessings

Directed by Rober to Buso--Garcia

at Lowell House

April 30, 9 p.m.

How many times have you heard or even said to yourself, "Wow, that would make a great movies." In the age of television, VCR and home movies, film has become a more accessible medium for artists and amateurs alike. Once you reach college, however, if you do not choose to major in VES or a similar department, then the opportunities to direct, produce crew or act in a film may be few. For these reasons a group of Harvard students have organized the Harvard/Radcliffe Filmmakers. Their first production, "Silent Blessings," is scheduled to premiere this weekend as a part of the ARTSFirst festivities.

"Silent Blessings," according to its writer and director, Roberto Buso-Garcia, '94, "is the story of two Puerto Rican brothers living in Cambridge, chronicling a string of critical moments in their romantic, familial and cultural lives." The emergence of the film and its umbrella organization, the Harvard/Radcliffe Filmmakers, is part of a concerted effort by about 40 to 50 Harvard students to revolutionize independent filmmaking at the college. As the premiere draws near, the people who worked with the film recalled its production, filming, and the ups and downs of what for many was a new kind of artistic experience.

Todd Park, '94, the film's executive producer and a co-founder of of Harvard/Radcliffe Film-makers', emphasized the significance of its creation of future generations of students, especially in helping them to anticipate the difficulties of getting a independent film underway financially. He explained, "We are devoted to producing large-scale, semi-professional films that are extra-curricular projects..we want to help provide an infrastructure for making film so that people getting started don't have some of the same problems we did." With a budget of nearly $6,000, "Silent Blessings" seems to have been blessed indeed, but amassing the funds and resources to accomplish the task at hand was difficult. Under the auspices of their newly formed organization, Park pointed out, the producers could obtain grants from the Harvard Foundation and the Undergraduate Council. This sum, is addition to donations from alumni and Lowell House, provided one-third of the funding. The rest came from personal sources.

"we got turned down by the Office for the Arts," Park explained," they said that they did not fund film, period," As for the departmental resources, Roberto Buso-Garcia shared this story: "Once we needed a light meter, which is very essential, and so small that they don't rent it. We had a big shoot and all of the equipment all ready. We asked the VES department [if we could] borrow one and the head, [Alfred Guzzetti] said no, you know the rules, only the students in the department can use the equipment." The episode has a happy ending, however. "When I told that story to the Boston Film Foundation they gave me a light meter for free." Maria Elena Alvarado, '94, in charge of continuity, seems to agree with Buso-Garcia. "You don't have to be a VES major to make a film," she says, but adds, "I hope that people realize how much work is behind it."

While ups and downs are the norm for any undertaking so large, with "Silent Blessings" good times definitely seem to have predominated along with the hard work. "Everyone on the crew was so nice and fun to work with," Alvarado remembers. "We shot all over: by the river, in apartments on Beacon Street and near Huron Ave., in the basement of Lowell House, at Harvard University Press and the Casablanca." On a typical day "we'd get up at around four thirty or five in the morning in order to be filming from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., which was the only time people could do it...and it was very cold, too." Despite often-crazed conditions, however, people all pitched in. Park concurred, "the comraderie was amazing."

Buso-Garcia remarked on the sometimes elusive basic ingredients of film, along with his fond memories of the experience. "You need a lot of people, good light, good weather...we needed permission from the City Hall of Cambridge to film outside and in the streets..[but] once we got set up, and [I] started directing it was--everything was--amazing. Almost no one had ever done film before, but everyone was incredibly willing to learn--I got my energy from them."

As for the actors, to whom film was a new experience, many were pleased and excited by the experience. Michael Stone '95, the leading actor, talked about the differences between film and drama. "In the theater you start with a neutral space and you try to create this reality. With film, it's the opposite. We'd go to a real place, someone's apartment, and take it apart and change it all around." Stone described how, in acting for film "you do the scene differently several times and you don't know what works out the best..It's very slow and hard to keep your concentration in every shot."

Overall, he looks back on the movie as a wonderful experience, noting especially Buso-Garcia's direction. "I realized more and more what a difficult job he had. His toughest job was really to keep everybody in line...People love him, they would do anything for him." Abigail Kolodny '95 supporting actress, praised both Buso-Garcia and the crew overall. "Tito is very encouraging, understanding, resilient, and patient--I'd say patience is his biggest virtue." She adds, "I also learned how important the crew is--the person who holds the camera, marks distances--they are more important than the actors."

The personal commitment of the people involved: cast, crew and production staff, seems to be the most crucial ingredient across the board. And if his fans are right, Buso-Garcia has it in spades. "Silent Blessings" is not his first filming enterprise. When asked when his filming career began, Buso-Garcia cited the summer after his junior year in high school. "Well, I was always interested in telling stories...My mother surprised me by sending me to a summer school program at Oxford University where I took a film theory and production class as well as a creative writing class. I wrote a script in May of 1990 and we shot from June to August. It was in Spanish, on video."

But most importantly, Buso-Garcia realized "I could move people to do this thing...we had no idea what we were doing and it came out pretty well." This past summer, he made "Monica," which he sent to several film festivals. Four films after his first attempt, "Silent Blessings" is Buso-Garcia's first project all on 15 mm film. "Ever since I came to Harvard I wanted to make a bigger film here. I thought, why can't we do on film what HRDC [Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club] does on the Loeb Mainstage or the Pudding. I thought a lot of people were interested in film and didn't have an outlet."

Busio-Garcia cites the one big obstacle to student film as "fear-the fear people have about the money." Harvard/Radcliffe Filmmakers was created, according to all involved, to encourage future filmmakers to pursue their dreams. "Two people have already contacted me about doing film here next year," Buso-Garcia recounts. Stone and Kolodny both expressed interest in perhaps doing a film again in the future. The successful production of a film such as "Silent Blessings," in addition to the formation of this new association, should help future directors and patrons to take independent film more seriously on campus. The only thing you need to supply, it seems, is a strong and enduring sense of purpose.

"Silent Blessings" will premiere on Saturday, April 30th in the Lowell House dining room at screening at 9 p.m. and a dance party will follow.