Date: Fri 16-Jan-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: MICHEL

Quick Words:

Merwinsville-Hahn

Full Text:

For A Young Filmmaker, All Tracks Lead To "Merwinsville"

(with cut)

BY SHANNON HICKS

NEW MILFORD -- When Merwinsville , a 14-minute short film by local filmmaker

William Hahn made its Connecticut premiere last April at Bethel Cinema, no one

was sure what to expect. It was a film shot with a small budget and with a

cast of unknowns, but for local audiences it had a hook: the film was shot in

Gaylordsville, and its director/co-producer/co-writer/cinematographer grew up

in New Milford.

The thing is, everyone has to start somewhere. William Hahn, the proud papa of

the Merwinsville project, just may have gotten his start with this film. Since

its initial debut in December 1995 on Canadian Broadcasting Television, the

short film been shown on television, in movie theatres and film festivals and

conferences everywhere from Bethel, Conn., to Cork, Ireland.

Merwinsville has won awards for Best Experimental Film, Best Script and Best

Editing (all from the 1997 Yorktown Short Film & Video Festival in Canada); a

Best Amateur Film from The Blizzards Awards, last February in Canada; and an

honorable mention last July from the Philadelphia International Film Festival.

And now, Merwinsville is coming home. Just like its lead character. For at

least a week, audiences taking in the new Jack Nicholson feature As Good As It

Gets at New Milford's Bank Street Theatre will also be treated to Bill Hahn's

14-minute award-winning short film. Merwinsville will precede the feature.

"Four stars!" Rocky Barry, manager of the theatre, exclaimed earlier this

week. "This film gets my highest rating.

Bill Hahn, who grew up in Danbury, has been pursuing a career in film since

his days of working at local cinemas. Teen years saw the young Hahn taking

tickets at both Bethel Cinema and Bank Street Theatre in New Milford , while

he also learned some of the ins and outs of the movie industry. He attended

the School of Visual Arts for two years, but dropped out when he felt the

school wasn't teaching students the real grit of the industry.

Kitty Lewis, the general manager at Bethel Cinema, said audiences enjoyed the

film when it was screened in Bethel last year.

"Generally the response was good," Ms Lewis said last week. "Some of the

people actually came in just to see [ Merwinsville ], and then left before the

feature started, which I thought was interesting. A lot of others came for the

feature and ended up seeing it.

"Because the film was by somebody local, and it was a little different, that

really appealed to people."

Merwinsville tells the story of Joseph Kalansky, who, during the Depression,

is found walking along the tracks of his life, literally and figuratively. He

is haunted by memories of his deceased wife and his lost little girl, and he

is trying to decide what to do with his future.

There is no direct dialogue from the central character, the European immigrant

Kalansky. Instead, the story is told through a voice over/narration. There is

also a soundtrack featuring the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey. Hahn secured

permission from Polygram Records in order to use the haunting sounds as

background music for the emotional tale.

Area audiences will recognize bridges and buildings from Litchfield and

Fairfield counties. In particular, scenes feature the Merwinsville Hotel (a

landmark building in Gaylordsville), the Essex Steam Train, and the railroad

tracks that run through local forests and lead to the hotel.

"I'm really proud of Bill for this," Mr Barry said. "I'm very excited to play

this film."

"This film tells a universal story. It's a moody, evocative film that would

have an appeal to a wide variety of people," continued Mr Barry. "I'm not

sure, of course, how audiences will react, because this is not the kind of

film you usually find at a feature house, but I think they'll enjoy it.