Ritz Theater premiers locally made ‘Shadows of the Past’ film

SCRANTON — Just in time for the Halloween season, the Ritz Theater in downtown Scranton premiered a spooky movie produced by Scranton Films on Tuesday, Oct. 1. It’s a horror anthology called Shadows of the Past. The main plot is about four teens on the run from the police by hiding in a creepy mansion. The host offers the teens freedom in exchange of allowing him to tell them a few stories.

Luz Cabrales, founder of Scranton Films, directed this movie Her organization is dedicated to fostering young talent.

“It was a very rewarding experience as well as very challenging because I got to work with different talent and different ranges of experience,” she said. “Some of them did not have any experience on camera and some did. So it was a nice balance of trying to direct different types.”

Christopher S. Jordan, 6th-grade student of Our Lady of Peace School, plays young Mario in Mother, one of the stories told by the host. In this tale, Christopher’s character learns a valuable lesson of listening to one’s own mother as he gets pulled into a horror realm inside a haunted restaurant.

“I loved it,” he said about being in the film. “I had a lot of fun.”

Christopher is passionate about acting and competitive dance. He played both Eric and Rudolpho in his school’s production of Matilda. He has also acted in theater productions of the Scranton Cultural Center and Scranton Shakespeare Festival. He was in a comedic short film called Freeze Tag. It won at the Los Angeles Comedy Film Fest. He once appeared on Kids Say the Darndest Things. He was recently booked to play the lead boy in The Polar Express Train Ride in Whippany, New Jersey during Christmastime.

Ashlyn Rae Johnson plays a character named Nancy in a story called Nancy. In this story, this girl goes through a couple of time periods such as the 1800’s and the 1990’s as she dies and gets revenge on the people who wronged her. Ashlyn created a backstory for her character. Since Ashlyn wore braces at the time, she made it that Nancy was bullied.

“She (Nancy) is always two steps ahead of everybody,” she said. “She has a way of being devious and demonic.”

Ashlyn enjoyed being in hair and makeup. She felt the costume, which consists of an 1800’s dress and a bonnet, got her into character. She also liked being on the set of the Electric City Trolley Museum especially with the extras.

“I really enjoyed it because it was my first film ever,” she said. It really did feel like the professional industry, They all were very professional and nice to work with. They care about your well-being, not just the acting.”

Ashlyn graduated from an acting school last year in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She then competed in an international talent competition, in which she won first place for improvisation.

Ashlyn is a student of Lackawanna Trail Jr Sr High School. She has performed in school productions including a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz and Chip in Beauty and the Beast.

Evan Bernardi did behind-the-scenes work as second assistant cameraman as well as production assistant and volunteer actor.

“I loved it!,” he said. “Being part of a movie and working on set to help make the words in a script appear on screen is quite inspiring and satisfying. In addition, the crew and cast were always great to work with, and I was able to learn a lot of camera work from J.B Earl and Jared Sokirka. They took me under their wing and showed me various techniques you would only know by having years of experience.”

Since working with Shadows of the Past, Evan had a few opportunities to work in movie productions as a crew member with the same individuals. He also works as an extra when needed. He worked in local production such as Bitter Souls, Rock and Roll vs. the Invisible Bees, and 12 to Midnight.

Evan has dual enrollment as a senior at Abington Heights High School and a freshman at Johnson College.

Abington Heights High School student Christian Sedelnick is in the host’s third story called The Dancer. He played the piano in key scenes and was part of the cast in a scene at the historic Brooks Mine.

Julian Santos wrote the screenplay based on local author A.C. Bernardi’s short stories, Evan’s father. The film is set in many locations in northeast PA. The main story is set at the Frederick Stegmaier Mansion. Other locations include Scranton locations including The V-Spot in Scranton, Electric City Trolley Museum, Brooks Mine. The basement of Gober’s Deco Lounge was used to create a set to look similar to the Frederick Stegmaier Mansion.

Luz believes that filmmaking is a unique opportunity for kids to explore but not without doing work.

“The film industry is very hard so if we can give these kids direction, I feel very fulfilled,” she said. “We want to make sure they’re aware that it’s not all about the glamour. It’s not about you’re going to be famous. It’s about having something in you that is a craft.”