In one exemplary moment, one of the teens blandly mentions her parents’ lives under the “Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, and all that” in the same tone she uses to describe getting her car detailed. In such a scene, Mallozzi doesn’t need flashy cinematic technique. She forces the audience to ask itself gut-wrenching questions about cultural memory and assimilation, by presenting the girl’s words without pretension or prejudice. Over three grueling years of filming, Mallozzi was able to capture a wealth of genuinely thought-provoking moments like this one.
The film has been making the festival rounds, but perhaps its greatest achievement will be in the educational and social service sectors. According to Mallozzi, Lowell High School has asked her to create a study guide to accompany the film, so that the school can show it as a part of the regular curriculum. In addition, the school has begun to ask its teachers to watch the movie in order to get a better sense of their kids’ everyday lives.
“It could run for ten years [in a format like that],” Mallozzi notes with a quiet joy, both for the potential shelf-life of the film and for the good work it can do.
Even though the film is a true achievement, Mallozzi never descends into self-important descriptions of her influences or intentions, although she would have a right to do so.
Her former teacher and current colleague, Arnheim Lecturer on Filmmaking Robb Moss, glowingly describes her as one who can “bring together her abilities as an image-maker with her interest in the social world” in a way that is “nuanced, complex, and emotive.” Yet she is refreshingly down-to-earth, and, as one of her VES 150 students puts it, “practical, taking into consideration our situation as undergrads.”
But how did Mallozzi end up becoming a TF at her alma mater? Her answer is characteristically honest: she started in 1997 for the film-editing resources Harvard could offer her, but has remained at the College because her students have helped her to discover “something I didn’t know when I started…[that teaching would] become this second passion.” But, of course, she needs her creature comforts, just like anybody else: “And [teaching’s] handy—it gives you health insurance and it pays the rent!”
As I walked away from our interview, I could not help but feel that Mallozzi and her work are buried treasures in the world of Harvard. And once you unearth them, prepare to have your mind blown.