Livingston High Teacher, Filmmaker Shows Award-Winning Film At SOPAC

Abstract artist and teacher at Livingston High School Gerard Amsellem will show his latest short film, the award-winning "Bartleby" at the South Orange Performing Arts Center at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 22. 
 
Amsellem’s collection of paintings with collaborator Mikel Frank has been featured in a show called “Primal Convergence” in the Herb and Milly Iris Gallery at SOPAC. 

“Create is to live in the most intense way that life can offer,” Amsellem said.
 
A South Orange resident by way of Paris, France, Amsellem earned his masters degree in French Literature and Art History from the University of Paris. In addition to painting, he is also a filmmaker and educator, teaching French and World Film at Livingston High School.

Amsellem's work has been exhibited in Paris, at GAS Gallery And Studio in Maplewood, and other notable galleries. He has also established a local film club called La Cinemateque.

In 2011, Amsellem produced and directed a short film titled "Bartleby." The filmmaker teamed with screenwriter/actor Richard Stephen Bell to present in "Bartleby" a spiritually moving updated adaptation of Herman Melville’s classic short story.

The film won the Director’s Citation in the Black Maria Film Festival, and official selection in the Twin Rivers and Garden State film festivals. 
 
The public is invited to the closing reception to see the film at SOPAC, 1 SOPAC Way in South Orange, on Dec. 22. 

For more information, visit sopacnow.org.