By PETER DOUGLAS
TWO school friends will go a little ‘Hollywood’ this month as they prepare to debut their documentaries.
As part of their school curriculum, the Little Yarra Steiner School students were asked to complete an independent project throughout the year, in which they sought out and received advice from a mentor.
Year 12 students Marlee Nebauer, 18, and Amanda Merilainen-Beca, 18, chose film as the medium for their projects.
Marlee drew on her experiences while living in Africa, while Amanda sought to explore the subject of body language in dogs.
Marlee spent time living with a Maasai tribe and in her documentary she explores the differences in love and relationships between Western culture and Africa.
“In Africa, men can marry multiple partners, whereas the women can only have one partner,” she said.
“Jealousy, particularly in Western culture, can be a very different thing.”
Marlee said the favourite part of the production process was developing the soundtrack, because she is a musician.
She plays guitar and sings, along with being a regular fixture on the local busking scene.
Meanwhile, Amanda said the content and inspiration for her film came smoothly, but did find the production aspect a little harder.
“The film explores how dogs communicate, particularly the language barriers they experience when communicating with people,” she said.
“Hopefully, this will make people aware of signs about when dogs may feel threatened or may attack.”
Some of her personal experiences were drawn on for the film, including when she adopted a dog, although she had two existing dogs and socialisation was a challenge.
The films will be shown back-to-back at the Memo in Healesville on Friday, 23 October, from 6pm to 9pm.
Both students hope to get as many people as possible to support their achievements and welcome the community to attend.
