Delving into moviemaking, girl uses it for a good cause

In her yet young life, Grace Schnetzler has pursued all manner of extracurricular activity — soccer, paddling, cheerleading, judo — but none, she says, has resonated with her personal values quite like her recent explorations into filmmaking.

Schnetzler, a senior at La Pietra-Hawaii School for Girls, got her first in-depth exposure to the medium through her involvement with Hawaii Women in Filmmaking, a nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving gender equity in filmmaking and other creative media.

Participating in the group’s Summer Reel Camp for Girls and other immersive workshops, Schnetzler gained basic filmmaking skills and understandings. More important, she found a safe space to practice her developing art under the care and mentorship of skilled professionals like Vera Zambonelli.

“The more involved I got, the more I fell in love with filmmaking,” Schnetzler said.

As Schnetzler’s skills developed, she and her fellow student filmmakers moved from narrative shorts to more sophisticated projects, eventually leading to Schnetzler directing an ambitious and challenging film, “Runaway.”

The film addresses the plight of teenage runaways, who account for the majority of juvenile detentions in Hawaii, and in particular the ways in which these youth find their voice through artistic expression.

“Juvenile incarceration is problematic because it doesn’t address the root causes of why youths run away in the first place,” Schnetzler said. “The system punishes youth for trying to escape bad situations.”

Schnetzler said such an approach can potentially criminalize young runaways by exposing them to more serious offenders during detentions that can last up to a month. The film encourages viewers to recognize the failure of the current system and to support the development of programs that provide troubled youth with positive creative outlets.

Ultimately, Schnetzler said, she intends to study political science in college and devote her professional life to addressing issues of social justice.

“There are real-life struggles out there that I’d like to help solve,” she said. “I just want to impact the world in a positive way.”

CONGRATULATIONS to Rachel Handlin, who this semester became the first person with Down syndrome to be accepted into the prestigious California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, Calif. Handlin, a talented photographer, was featured here — 808ne.ws/1LekedS — back in 2014.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.