Eugina Gelbelman, 09年她自编自导自演了自己的处女作， 白色女神， 在保利学院培养了她对电影制作的热情. 白色女神 会在我们的 Poly on Film系列讨论 9月21日. 白色女神 目前可供 亚马逊Prime流媒体服务.

对于那些对电影制作感兴趣的人, the Poly on Film series is a unique opportunity for students and fellow alumni to speak directly to filmmaking professionals, 演员, 和作家. The series debuted in 2020 and features a Zoom discussion with Poly alumni involved in making the film and other invited guests. The community is invited to view films at their leisure prior to the panel discussion. 

加入保利电影讨论 提前为极速注册 事件 9月21日晚上7点.

Background & 影响

Gelbelman is the daughter of Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union. After graduating from Poly, she studied history and Russian literature at McGill University. She also studied technical filmmaking for two years at Capilano University in British Columbia and earned a Diploma in Motion Picture 艺术 in 2015. She was a recipient of the 2018 New York Women in Film and Television Ha Phuong Scholarship. Gelbelman graduated from the MFA Film program at Stony Brook University with a concentration in screenwriting in 2019.

In 白色女神， a writer, Rebecca, is obsessed with a divine mythological character. She helps an injured man in the woods and strange things ensue. The film has been described as a “psychological thriller in the vein of 痛苦.”“我还会说我的电影是一部惊悚片,Gelbelman说, “but also a drama about a woman’s unraveling through the mirror of the mythological. All of her dreams and visions in the film are images and stories I borrowed from Greek myth that follow an archetypal pattern. It’s also a little bit over the top and a little bit of a camp dark comedy, 哪一个本来不是有意的, but became so as we shot the film and realized where things were going. 我受到电影的启发，比如 痛苦，但也 浮木 和詹姆斯·斯派德合作——他的一部鲜为人知的B级电影 闪闪发亮的, claustrophobic tales of people trapped together in a remote location, reliably going insane.”

对电影的热爱始于保利

“My interest in storytelling and writing became my passion for film and filmmaking at Poly,Gelbelman回忆道, 通过…的影响 大卫·海厄姆‘s filmmaking class and Bud Cox’s Film and Aesthetics class. I was encouraged to pursue filmmaking and inspired in both of those classes. 我也喜欢看保利剧院的作品, in particular I remember being very excited about performing as Friar Laurence in 罗密欧与朱丽叶 and watching our high school production of Bertolt Brecht’s 母亲的勇气.”

保利剧院经理海厄姆, 谁将会是这次Poly on Film讨论小组的一员, 他说，他记得尤吉娜“在课堂上做得很好.但他也回忆道, “她写了一个很棒的剧本, 尽管我鼓励她, 她从来没有在课堂上展示过.  我记得, she was somewhat shy and that may have had something to do with her reluctance to create the piece.  I was very impressed by her writing and because I don’t often get students in the class who express themselves through writing, I was somewhat disappointed not to see what she would create as a final product.“也许还没有.

制作电影

Gelbelman shared how difficult it can be to get a first film produced. “The biggest challenge was money, time, 和资源,” Gelbelman explained. “我没有这些东西, so I ended up self financing with savings I had from working as a graduate assistant and teacher during my Film MFA program at Stony Brook University. 钱有限，时间也有限, 和资源, so every decision during filmmaking had to be made with an eye to our shoestring budget and time constraints. The movie was shot for 10K, and edited for 10K, so it came out to 20K from my own pocket. 我在一个月内写完了这部电影, 花了一个月试镜, 召集剧组，策划拍摄, 然后是两周的拍摄.” The film was shot mostly in Canada with one reshoot in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. “不知怎么的，我们在2020年2月底完成了这部电影, 就在加拿大新冠肺炎疫情封锁前一周,”她说。, “It took another year or so to complete the film in post production. The number one rule of filmmaking really is never use your own money, but sometimes if you really want something and are unable to raise money from outside sources, 你必须依靠这一点, 如果你有闲钱的话. I will certainly not be able to shoot another film with my own money though. 这是一次性交易.”

What does Gelbelman hope the audience takes away from watching and discussing her film? “我希望他们能受到鼓舞，大胆尝试,”她说。, 如果他们有一个非常想做的创意项目. 看到你可以有创造力, 有趣的, and original even if you don’t have the usual things a lot of feature films or well-financed art projects have. Also, you don’t need anyone’s approval, if you have a story, go and tell it. I also hope they are interested more in our original stories, 通过影片对古代神话的运用. 我也希望观众们能玩得开心. The movie is trying to be entertaining before anything else, 同时在它下面也有更深的层次.”

展望未来项目

Gelbelman would like to make another feature as soon as she finds the money and support. “这是我自己制作的,”她说。, “为了第二部电影, 如果能有我以外的制片人就太好了. I am adapting a sci-fi, fantasy, western trilogy by Steven Drachman called 《博彩网站排名》, which I optioned and I hope to make under my production company Pomegranate Pictures. I also have an autobiographical coming-of-age film about growing up first-generation Russian American in Brooklyn called 爸爸的女孩, and several other projects, which I’ve written and hope I can get made in the coming years. 还有一个电视试播集, which made it to the second round of a Sundance lab application called ‘Burly-Q’ about a 30-year-old virgin and kindergarten teacher who gets involved in the NYC neo-burlesque scene in her off time, which I will try to raise money for so I can shoot the pilot myself.”

注册 提前 对于Poly on Film: 白色女神 which will be presented on Wednesday, 9月21日晚上7点. 登记后, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

讨论小组包括Eugina Gelbelman, 演员摩根·埃弗雷特, 保利剧院经理大卫·海厄姆07届毕业生, 古典文学系主任安东尼·吉尼23届毕业生, 以及62年的主持人罗伯特·阿伯林, P’00, ’03.