DB Duo Dominate Harvard Film Festival
April 13, 2016
After five long months of planning out their project, traveling to locations, and working long hours, sophomores Megan Hoang and Marisa Umeh finally finished their film submission for the global Girls Impact the World film festival.
One month later, the two girls were celebrating and booking plane tickets to accept their second runner up award at Harvard University in Massachusetts.
The Ian Somerhalder (IS) Foundation teamed up with the GITW film festival to create a category centered on environmental issues that impact women, called Green IS.
Hoang and Umeh chose to participate in this category, as they were both passionate about different aspects of it. As Hoang was more science orientated, and Umeh had knowledge about cosmetic companies, the duo put their skills together to form the perfect team.
“I’ve always had a passion [to eliminate] hydrogenated oils. My middle school teacher taught me about it and I was interested because it is very detrimental to humans and everyone should know about it but not many people do. Marisa wanted to talk about makeup and parabens so we combined it to form ‘In & On’,” Hoang said.
Through their submission, a video magazine titled “Frida Magazine: In & On,” Hoang and Umeh delivered educational and relatable content that encourages teenage girls to take better care of their bodies by being more mindful about what they eat and the makeup they use. They were also inspired by artist and feminist icon Frida Kahlo, hence the title of the magazine.
While creating the film, the girls found difficulties incorporating the ideas they had, as they conflicted with one another.
However, cooperation was key to putting aside any of their differences, and allowed them to tackle the film as a strong team.
“We have so many ideas and we wanted to include so many ideas. We didn’t really know if [the magazine] would work and we wanted to execute it without making it tacky.
We wanted to do it to the best of our abilities, but we didn’t have knowledge in some things, such as using editing software. Ultimately we were able to use the knowledge that we had and put it together,” Umeh said.
While Hoang and Umeh directed the film, many others were involved in the process. Hoang’s sister, Justa, played a teenage girl looking to learn more about the harmful effects of polluting her body.
Girls from more than six countries were interviewed about their knowledge of hydrogenated oils and the substances in their makeup. They also reached out to medical professionals, a restaurant owner, Diamond Bar High School Science teacher Teresa Herbert, and Willa, a skincare line.
“[Willa] doesn’t have parabens or sulfate and it’s great for the skin. We contacted them asking if they wanted to be featured and they said yes and we were shocked. They sent us products and we filmed with it,” Hoang said.
Hoang and Umeh were invited to the red carpet event at Harvard to accept their awards, so they decided to plan a trip around the event. They traveled to Washington D.C. and New York City before arriving at their final stop, Boston. Along the way, the two girls took footage that they plan to use in future issues of Frida Magazine.
Ian Somerhalder and his wife Nikki Reed personally presented the award to Hoang and Umeh before the girls gave a speech. They were also award a $750 scholarship, though the lessons they learned and the experience they received were just as valuable.
“Hardwork pays off, definitely, Megan and I were up till 3 a.m. trying to edit and we lost a lot of sleep,” Umeh said, “Ultimately, when we saw the effects and how people were moved by our movie, it was all worth it.”
