Movie by SHHS Grad in Philly Fest
Derek Pastuszek’s film “Islander” is in competition for the Short Film Award at the Philadelphia Film Festival. Photo: Derek Pastuszek
The scene is dark. A pinprick of light expands until you see a lone man walking through a neighborhood. A lantern swings from his hand, and a radio crackles in the background. A hurricane is coming. Evacuation orders have been delivered. But the man and his lantern remain. The weather reports fade and give way to rain, wind. Then quiet. The center of the storm.
The man tinkers with a music box shaped like a lighthouse, and out of the quiet comes its tinny melody. The island the man inhabits is empty, save for him. As he walks the streets in the aftermath of the storm, you get the sense that he might be the only person left on earth.
“Islander” was written and directed by Derek Pastuszek, who grew up in Swarthmore. His first short film, “Solitary,” finished a two-year festival run with a special screening at the White House in July 2016. Shortly after Hurricane Sandy, Pastuszek shot “Islander” on Long Beach Island in New Jersey, where his family once owned a home.
Pastuszek credits the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District with nurturing his creativity. “There’s such an eclectic, diverse group of teachers and students in these schools,” he said. It was an environment that encouraged him to find his own voice. From his time at Swarthmore-Rutledge School, he recalls being inspired by Carrie Shankweiler, Susan Larson, John Lynch, and Jill Sautner. He reports that his mother, Katie Newsom, “would tell me they all nurtured my imagination and helped me find my love of stories and science.”
His love of filmmaking was sparked by “Lord of the Rings.” Watching the special features included with the DVD, he found himself fascinated by how movies were made. The combination of written and visual storytelling spoke to him. “That was it for me,” he said. “From then on it was really just, ‘How do I navigate the world to get to make my own films?’”
With “Islander,” a short roughly 12 minutes long, Pastuszek explores the impact of isolation on the human spirit. After what seems to be days of riding around on a bicycle without encountering another person, the lone man introduced at the beginning of the film finds something on the beach: a baby doll. He rescues the doll from the sand and brings it home. Cleans it. Repaints its face. In the absence of any other connection, the doll becomes his companion.
When choosing ideas to pursue, Pastuszek relies on his intuition. “You know you’re supposed to be writing an idea when you wake up in the middle of the night and you have a sentence written, or you have a scene, or a line. It’s really trusting the unconscious element of the process.”
For the next six months, Pastuszek will be working on his first feature film, which he’s already written. He calls it “a poetic story about survival and purpose in the vast wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.” He and his management team are meeting with production companies and actors, working to bring that film to life. With a couple of shorts under his belt, he feels ready to take on a larger project.
“Islander” has been selected to compete for the Short Film Award at this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival, which runs through November 2. Go here for more details and to watch the film.
