Young Miami-Dade filmmakers make their big screen debuts

The soft glow from the movie screen illuminated Marli Scharlin's face as Green House, a film she wrote and directed, played in a theater filled with friends, family and fellow filmmakers.

The film, 15-year-old Marli's first, is about a homeless man who would rather clean up his surroundings and recycle than ask for money.

''I just can't believe it's on a real big screen and not on my computer screen,'' a smiling Marli said. ``It feels really good.''

The freshman at Ransom Everglades School was one of five young filmmakers who got to show off their work Jan. 28 at the Regal Cinema on Lincoln Road as part of the Miami Jewish Film Festival.

For the past five years, the festival has invited aspiring filmmakers of any faith to write, shoot and edit a short film based around a Jewish theme. This year's theme was ''Tikkum Olam,'' which means repairing the world in Hebrew.

For her film, Marli chose to focus on recycling, a subject that is very important to her and her family. All of the props in Marli's seven-minute film were made from recycled materials.

''Our whole world needs to be cleaned up,'' Marli said. ``I hope everyone got something out of it.''

Before the screening,

David Frankel, director of The Devil Wears Prada and Marley & Me, shared advice and anecdotes with the aspiring directors.

Frankel told the teens that filmmakers ``start with one clear vision but need other people to transfer that dream.''

While working on Marley & Me, Frankel said, he had to work with a set design that wasn't what he had originally intended but the result was better than what he had imagined.

''Moviemaking is an exercise in compromise,'' Frankel said. ``We do it because we're hoping to be surprised.''

Marli learned to compromise during the editing process, where she took three hours of footage she collected in three days and cut it into a seven-minute movie.

''I learned about how much effort it takes to make a movie,'' Marli said.

Program creator Ellen Wedner said the program tries to show the students what filmmaking is really like.

''The program tries to mirror what it's like in the real world of budgets and deadlines,'' Wedner said.

Adam Eppelbaum, 17, said the program forced him to write a script and finish things on time.

He directed Blue Mane, a film about a teenage bully who finds that he has a lot in common with an old man who performs as a clown at children's parties.

''I have a thing for making movies at the last minute,'' Adam said.

Watching the result of his hard work on the big screen was ''surreal,'' said Adam, a senior at Palmetto Senior High School.

''Especially since you have David Frankel behind me chuckling,'' he said.

While filming, Adam says he learned about the lessons of compromising and collaboration that Frankel mentioned.

''I didn't know balloons popped when they touched the grass,'' said Adam, who was worried about the loud noise and safety risks from balloons he wanted to lay on the grass during a birthday party scene.

''I thought I was going to end up with a lawsuit and not a movie,'' he said.