Great Falls Forum with filmmaker Todd Nilssen
This month’s session of the Great Falls Forum will take place on Thurs., April 27th featuring filmmaker Todd Nilssen with a presentation entitled “Elan, What the Hell Happened?” The program will take place from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library.
For the last three years Nilssen has been working on a feature-length documentary film, entitled The Last Stop, about the controversial Elan School for troubled teens. Elan operated in Poland, Maine from 1970 through 2011.
Nilssen, who attended Elan in the years 2005 to 2007, feels that he was helped by the school’s unconventional methods, however he knows plenty of others who were not. The project is an attempt to show both the good and the bad behind the school’s history.
Originally from Long Island, NY, Todd Nilssen now lives in Manhattan where he works as a film editor specializing in commercials, music videos and corporate work. His research for the current documentary led him to focus on three aspects of the lives of Elan’s former students: what landed them there, life at the school and how they fared afterward.
At his Great Falls Forum presentation Nilssen will be talking about what his work as a filmmaker and the hours of work that went into the production of his latest film. The Last Stop will have its world premiere in South Portland at the Cinemagic Grand & Bistro Clark’s Pond on Sat., April 29th at 8 p.m.
Admission is free to all Forum events and no reservations are required. This program is a bring-your-own, brown-bag lunch event. Coffee, tea and bottled water will be available on site at the library.
The Great Falls Forum is co-sponsored by Bates College, Lewiston Public Library and the Sun Journal. The Lewiston Public Library is located downtown at 200 Lisbon Street at the corner of Pine Street. More information on Thursday’s lecture or other upcoming events in the Great Falls Forum series is available by contacting the Lewiston Public Library at 513-3135 or www.LPLonline.org.
For more details on Nilssen and The Last Stop, check out last year’s Sun Journal story on the project or view the film trailer from YouTube:
