gwendaulful

"Gwendaulful, it's a state of mind. You don't find it, it finds you."

For some, there's an embarrassing high school film that they've hid in the back shelf of their childhood closet.

Spring 2002, Milpitas, CA, Brian C. and I (James Shih) had to complete a high school creative writing project for Mr. Colburn and Mr. Maples. We were in separate classes, but our teachers allowed us to work together. Our friend Winson Duong, who was in neither class, wanted to work on a creative project with us, so we brainstormed ideas together. The result was the screenplay for gwendaulful.

I believe Winson coined the term: a non-sensical word that referred to a form of enlightenment, a way for this rag tag team of characters we created to be free from their impediments and find happiness. By then, we had experience making short films for French class and loved it. I had acted in some Milpitas High plays and wanted to perform more. A short film, more epic than anything we've ever done before, became our goal.

gwendaulful became bigger than just a class assignment for us. At the time, it was the last semester before we graduated from high school and there was an unspoken anxiety about our future. I felt that gwendaulful became our way to work through that anxiety, i.e. for us to have hella fun together as a group. Maybe we knew that we would never be able to do something like this or be this close again.

The group: Winson, Brian, myself, Peter, Phuoc (Paul), Denzie, Wai, Justin, Jacob, Huy, Cin-Yee, Vicky, with the support of teachers Ms. Belanger and Mr. Colburn, helped make this film possible.

Watching it now, 16 years later, I'm amazed by its creativity and the no holds barred directing and editing by Winson and Brian, respectively. There are some cringeworthy acting moments and jokes, but if anything, this film is a time capsule of who were and our creative idols (Donnie Darko, Rushmore, Amelie, Requiem for Dream, Snatch, Office Space, New Order, Yeah Yeah Yeahs...)

Though we've all gone different paths in our lives, changed names, added middle initials, married, unmarried...I'm grateful. I'm grateful for the creative times we had and for how much we've grown since then, even if it's apart.

So no, gwendaulful is not one of those embarrassing high school films for me. It's a ghost from the past that has found me and I greet with open arms.

- James Y. Shih, co-writer/actor of gwendaulful, Reseda, CA 9/10/2018 11:20PM