Film studies Maine’s minority children

FARMINGDALE – With a population that’s 97 percent Caucasian, Maine can be a confusing place for minority children to grow up.

That sense of discomfort is the subject of a new movie by a young filmmaker from the Kennebec County town of Hallowell.

Taina Mirach-Jack wrote, produced and directed “Learning to See,” a 15-minute short film that captures a black girl’s struggle for identity at an all-white high school in rural Maine.

The story is based closely on Mirach-Jack’s own life.

Several years ago, she became the first black student to complete 13 years in the Hallowell school district. She says she never noticed being different until a black doctor visited the school for a blood drive.

When he left, she felt alone and confused.

For years, says Mirach-Jack, now 23, married and expecting her first child, she never spoke about her feelings of isolation.

But after completing a film degree at New York University and making several other movies, she began work on the deeply personal two-year project.

The film, shot at Hall-Dale Middle School in Farmingdale, examines a girl wrestling with issues of race and identity.

Last week, Mirach-Jack screened “Learning to See” to a group of seventh-graders at the school where it was filmed.

Reactions indicated that the film struck a nerve.

“I can relate to the African-American girl,” Julie Wei said during a discussion after the screening. “I’m like the only Asian in the whole seventh grade.”

That connection is what Mirach-Jack hoped the film would inspire. She said viewers’ responses have been insightful and forthcoming.

Mirach-Jack is looking to bring the film to other schools and organizations across the state that are committed to developing better understanding among cultures.

She sees the film as a personal triumph of sorts.

“It was a culmination of 13 years of being completely silent about it,” she said. “I finally just looked right at it.”