After 12 weeks filled with selecting and preparing sets, working with Hollywood talent, filming through the night, and editing, the 30 or so students in Grand Valley State University's Summer Film Project will show the result of their summer-long introduction to feature filmmaking. Their 2004 film, "A Moment of Grace," will be premiered in two screenings at Studio 28.
Screenings of the 23-minute film will be held at 7 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, November 11, at Studio 28, 1350 28th St. SW. A reception will follow the first show. Admission is $5 for the general public. For more information, call the GVSU School of Communications at (616) 331-3668.
"A Moment of Grace" was the screenplay chosen for Grand Valley's 2004 Summer Film Project, a 12-week hands-on practicum for film and video students. Written by Los Angeles screenwriter Samantha Humphrey, the story depicts the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a very human and unbiased perspective.
Spending several weeks in West Michigan to take the lead role was Pauley Perrette, on hiatus from the television series "Navy NCIS." Other Hollywood influences included the film's director, Alba Francesca, who has her own production company in L.A., and cinematographer Jack Anderson, whose long list of credits include TV's "Mad About You" and the motion picture "Pretty Woman." SAG actors from Chicago, Detroit, and the local area completed the cast.
"A Moment of Grace" was shot primarily in June at local gravel pits (offered by Grand Rapids Gravel Co. and altered to resemble a Middle Eastern desert) and an old, unused hospital building in Grand Rapids (lent by Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services and altered to look like a Third World clinic). Grand Valley students battled hordes of mosquitoes, sudden rainstorms, and 12-hour workdays to learn the craft of filmmaking firsthand from the pros. Many of the students will be at the film premiere along with Francesca, who took over as director/producer of this year's Summer Film Project for GVSU film and video professor John Harper Philbin, who has led the project for the last six years.
"A Moment of Grace" is the story of a young American doctor, Grace Peters (Pauley Perrette), who is working in a Palestinian refugee camp clinic and has seen far too much senseless death and maiming. When a young Palestinian couple arrives at the clinic in extremely premature labor, she risks her own life to save the infant. A positive outcome to their desperate plight hinges on Grace's sheer determination and the graciousness of two Israeli soldiers. The story does not take sides, but rather shows the very human aspect of people living in the midst of war.
