On Thursday, Dec. 12 at 8 p.m., student-made film “The Fallen” will premiere at The State Theatre in downtown State College. The film is a psychological thriller written and directed by Grant Donghia and produced by Lilly Adams.
Donghia, a junior majoring in film, began working on the feature-length film his senior year of high school.
“This project is three years in the making, and I could not be more excited to finally get to show three years of the cast and crew’s hard work to an audience,” says Donghia.
“The Fallen” is one of the first ever feature-length films to be produced by a current Penn State student. It follows five survivors in the wake of a contagion apocalypse. Donghia was inspired to write the film after he turned the concept into a short film in 2017 and realized that there was much more potential in the story line than just a short film could cover. From there, the idea of creating a feature-length film during his time as a student was born.
The cast and crew is comprised completely of students. From the idea, to the production, to the editing and now the premiere, each and every step involved solely students. This is another part of the movie that Donghia finds so unique.
“There was no outside help for this film, and it makes it so special. I truly feel like I found the best people possible which made me even more excited to film, edit and now get to show it,” says Donghia.
Furthermore, the cast and crew are over 50% POC, women and LGBTQ. According to Donghia, this was inspired partly by Ryan Murphy, creator of the popular FX television show “American Horror Story.” Murphy created his own initiative, HALF, which encourages equal opportunities in film and television.
This initiative was extremely important to Donghia, especially considering the current culture of Hollywood. Having the ability to create a platform for minority groups is something that Donghia says excites him the most, and he will continue to give these groups voices in every way that he can.
The premiere is open to everyone, and Donghia encourages students, adults and anyone in between to come see his film and support local arts. Doors will open at 7 p.m., and there will be the chance to purchase refreshments, network and take photos. The screening will begin at 8 p.m. Following the screening of the movie, there will be a Q & A panel with the cast and crew of the movie.
Tickets to this event are only $6.50 and can be purchased at the State Theatre or on their website. For more information, you can visit https://thestatetheatre.org/the-fallen/ or follow @thefallenfilm_2019 on Instagram.
