A Swarthmore native and Strath Haven High School graduate is debuting his film, Islander, at this week’s Philadelphia Film Festival. The film looks at the destruction at Long Beach Island during Hurricane Sandy, reports Alicia Vitarelli for 6ABC.

This year, movies are being streamed or held at drive-ins.

Derek Pastuszek said his film has parallels to what people are going through during the pandemic.

“It’s a poetic fable about picking up the pieces after a tragedy, which we can all relate to,” Pastuszek said. “It explores loneliness and solitude and isolation, and what that feels like. Ultimately, it really is about the human need to find meaning and connection.”

In 2016, his film Solitary, about a prison inmate in solitary confinement, took awards and was shown at the White House.

Pastuszek, now living in Los Angeles, describes himself as truly living the dream. As a kid, he loved doodling, drawing movie scenes and monsters.

Even though he lives on the West Coast, Paturszek always thinks of Philadelphia as his home. It’s a place that puts its heart into everything, he said.

Read more about Derek Pastuszek at 6ABC here.

You Might Also Like

Residents Get an Eyeful of Hollywood as HBO Series Films in Delco

Villanova Documentary Highlights Tanzanian Village’s Struggle for Water

Actors and Filmmakers Collaborate Over Movies, TV at Swarthmore Co-op