On Thursday, July 19, the Roslyn Film Society's 8-1/2 minute long video Microcosm will have its premiere as part of the Long Island International Film Exposition 2001, which will be held at the Malverne Theater and which is sponsored by the Long Island Film and TV Foundation.

The film was co-directed and edited by Roslyn High School senior Brian Lieberman and junior Michael Kleiman from Lieberman's script. Members of the Film Society and several Roslyn High School faculty members (including assistant principal Joan Greenfield, English department chairman Robert Becker, and English teachers Susan Prager and Josephine O'Grady) worked both in front of and behind the camera under the overall supervision of Mr. Josh Cabat, Roslyn High School English teacher and founding advisor of the Film Society.

The Film Society was founded this past winter by students who had taken Mr. Cabat's film and literature class last spring and were looking for a way to continue to pursue their interest in the subject. The Society was established as a kind of cinematheque, a place where students could view and discuss classic films. Another of the Society's stated goals was to create their own films, although they did not really anticipate this happening for a least another year or two. Thanks to an unusual set of circumstances and the inspired and determined work of its members, the completion of Microcosm puts the Roslyn Film Society way ahead of schedule.

Originally, the film was created for inclusion in a student film contest to be sponsored by Friends Academy in Locust Valley. Lieberman, Kleiman and company worked intensely for two weeks (during AP exams, no less), including an editing session on Michael's personal computer that lasted until three in the morning, to get the film in on deadline, only to find out that Friends had abandoned plans to host the festival at the last minute. Scrambling, Mr. Cabat did a quick web search to find another venue and found the Film Expo, which, while international in scope, is dedicated to highlighting work by local filmmakers. Although their deadline for submissions had passed several days earlier, they were willing to bend the rules a bit and allow the film into the competition. Two weeks later, the RFS was notified that the film was strong enough to be included in the festival.

Inspired by David Lynch's Blue Velvet in theme if not in content, Microcosm is not a straight narrative film. It is essentially a series of tableaux set in and around the Roslyn community. The film begins with a montage of pretty images, but the filmmakers' intentions are made clear immediately by the fact that Ricky Nelson's plaintive Lonesome Town is heard underneath. The film goes on to explore the darker side that lies just below the surface of suburban existence. It is an oft-explored theme, but what makes Microcosm interesting is the choice of images, the juxtaposition of scenes and a tremendous sense of rhythm in the editing. It is a testament not only to the filmmakers' ingenuity but to the technological advances in camcorders and non-linear editing that make it possible to create professional looking film on one's home computer.

Microcosm will be shown as part of a longer video program on Thursday, July 19 at 4:30 p.m. at the Malverne Theater. All members of the Roslyn community are invited to attend. And next year, with the Roslyn Film Society hitting the ground running in September and with enough students signed up for film and lit to necessitate two full sections of film and literature, it promises to be an exciting year for the film program at Roslyn High School.