Photo provided A screening of the film “Blue” is shown at the Crump Theatre.
A short film written by a local graduate will be shown at an upcoming festival celebrating students’ work.
“Blue,” written by Piper Parks, will publicly debut at Constellation Stage and Screen’s first ever Student Film Festival, which is set for Aug. 12 at the Waldron Arts Center Auditorium in Bloomington. Doors open at 1:30 p.m., and the festival will kick off at 2 p.m. with a screening of “Blue.”
Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at seeconstellation.org. The event will also feature other films made by young people and adults who are students.
A trailer for “Blue” can be viewed on Constellation’s Facebook page.
“Blue tells the story of Oliver, who after months of loneliness and isolation, has lost her spark, her sense of color and feeling. In the dullness of her depression, she’s lost touch with the feelings and places that she once felt safe. A familiar young man, Blue, comes to her in a dream and tries his best to make her see things the way that she used to. Throughout their journey, Oliver realizes that while opening up and reaching out can be hard, with a little help, you can see the color in your life again,” according to the film’s synopsis.
The film was inspired by Parks’ experience struggling with loneliness and depression amid the pandemic. She said that going outdoors and looking at the “art and beauty” of Columbus helped with overcoming her depression.
Some of the local landmarks featured in the film include the Crump Theatre, the Sixth Streets Art Alley and the Cummins Corporate Office Building.
Parks graduated from CSA New Tech in 2022 and is now a student at the University of Indianapolis.
Her film won the fifth annual Project Pigasus screenwriting contest in 2022. Indiana-based film company Pigasus Pictures had invited high school students in the state to write short screenplays — 12 pages or less — based on their own experiences in Indiana. As the winner, Parks worked with Pigasus and local students to shoot the film in Columbus this past November.
Pigasus Pictures’ nonprofit arm, Pigasus Institute, was previously the producing entity for the Project Pigasus screenwriting contest. However, the institute later merged with Cardinal Stage and the Bloomington Playwright’s Project to form Constellation Stage and Screen.
Pigasus Pictures still exists as a separate entity and continues to collaborate on the contest, which is now known as Project Constellation.
Project Constellation sponsors include IU Credit Union, Hammer Lighting & Grip, the Bloomington Visitors Center, the Columbus Area Visitors Center, Indiana Public Broadcasting and the Heritage Fund — the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County.
Organizers hope to have a local, public screening of “Blue” in August that could act as a fundraiser for both Constellation and the Crump Theatre, Parks said.
The film was initially shown at a private, red carpet premiere at the Crump in mid-July.
“The screening went really well, and I had a lot of family and friends there that I’m happy were able to make it,” said Parks. “And seeing it finished and sharing that with them was a surreal experience. I wouldn’t change a minute of it.”
