Misa’s Fugue Debuts to Much Fanfare

After 22 months in the making, Misa’s Fugue finally made its long-awaited debut at the Miller Center for the Arts on 16 April.

“I think the premiere went very well!” Jennifer Goss, a co-producer of Misa’s Fugue, said. “It was awesome to see all of the people there watching the film and hearing everyone’s positive reactions. It was also tremendous to see the reactions of the students and how proud they were to be involved in this project.”

“This at times was a lot like herding cats,” director and co-producer Sean Gaston said. “So many things going on at the same time in many different departments all over the high school: it was a bit ridiculous.”

Despite the ridiculousness, all of the departments pulled it off. Due to the success of the first theatrical run in April, the Goggleworks was interested in Misa’s Fugue doing a second run from Friday, 11 May through Thursday, 17 May, with two shows daily at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

“I have seen several versions of the documentary, and I am still amazed how well it tells the true story,” Frank “Misa” Grunwald said. “I hope that it will serve the purpose of making people understand how deep the cruelty can be by people without conscience against others.”

What’s next for Misa’s Fugue? Right now the finishing touches on the DVD are being wrapped up. The DVD will be given out to the students and faculty who were involved in the making of the film before the end of the school year.

“We are also finalizing the plans for the study guide,” Gaston said. “We sent screeners to various teachers we know in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and they are going to watch the film again and give us ideas/suggestions of things we can incorporate into the study guide.”

The study guide will be available on the Misa’s Fugue website as a free download and will be emailed to all the schools who request a copy of the film.

There are also plans being made to send Misa’s Fugue to film festivals.

“The last two things that are on our list to do, and these two might take a while, we are hoping to screen the film at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. and are also putting together plans to screen the film in New York and Los Angeles,” said Gaston.

“By screening in New York and Los Angeles we will make the film eligible for the Oscars. Now I am not saying that this film will win an Oscar or even be nominated, BUT I think it would be cool to screen in New York and Los Angeles and just submit it to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences ‘for your consideration’ just to say that we did it!”