Wenham's Academy At Penguin Hall Hosts Award-Winning Writer

WENHAM, MA — The Academy at Penguin Hall continues its tradition of bringing strong, influential guest speakers to campus with a recent virtual visit from Tayarisha Poe, the award-winning writer and director of the Amazon Original film “Selah and the Spades.” Poe was welcomed by nearly 100 students to speak over the Zoom platform about her new film, and shared why she chose Penguin Hall as the film’s location, industry expertise, and her own experiences as a teenager.

The Sundance Film-funded crew filmed "Selah and the Spades" on the APH Campus in the summer of 2018. Looking for a location that embodied a typical boarding school "feel," Poe and her crew toured several locations before finding Penguin Hall. Poe spoke in admiration of APH's physical presence and the strong community that lives within it, noting how connected the students were to one another. "There’s something about that campus. It feels as though you’re entering into a secluded world; its own world with sort of its own set of rules, which fits in so well with the story we’re trying to tell.” Poe goes on to speak of the school’s magical feel, and being able to wander around and see the life of the campus. “It’s magical. You see it. It's in this film," Poe said.

While a significant amount of the Penguin Hall campus was captured, the school was also utilized as the film’s production hub. Two of the school’s wings served as the crew’s filming and production space, which allowed the crew to more easily manage casting efforts; facilitate set, art, and costume designs; and provided quiet spaces for actors to retreat between breaks, a rare bonus for filmmakers. The campus also provided the crew with on-site catering through the APH Bistro. In addition, many APH students, faculty, and staff were able to participate in the film as extras, while other students gained industry experience serving as Production Assistants and Makeup Assistant.

In her interview, Poe discussed the different themes of the movie, including societal expectations that come with who you are supposed to be versus who you are allowed to be as a young woman in the U.S.. To answer, Poe reflected on her own experiences as a teenager, referencing a moment in high school when she was told she couldn’t wear tank tops as part of the school’s dress code, and how that reflection helped begin to shape her mindset and drove her to question societal “norms.”

“A lot of the story and the main characters are influenced by my experience of having to be a teenage girl. As a teenager, I felt like I experienced so much more policing of the choices that I was making as a girl than I [had] experienced healthy communication about consent, or healthy communication about boundaries or power. Things like that. I just thought that was really messed up, and it spurned this whole idea of this girl (Selah) who also thought that was messed up… and refused to buy into the idea that other people have ownership over how you view or present yourself.”

In addition to her discussion about the characters, inspiration and various themes in the movie, Poe was asked what advice she would give her high-school self, and reminded students to appreciate all the learning experiences they are about to have, both inside and outside of the classroom, because they will all be relevant as students grow and mature: "I wish my younger self understood how important all the stuff I was experiencing in and out of high school was. There's so much you're learning at school that's part of your growth."

When asked about how she is staying creative during the pandemic, Ms. Poe spoke of her love for poetry and other written arts, and how they have helped keep her grounded and centered while she waits to complete her next projects, which includes an adaptation of the “Selah and the Spades” film into an upcoming Amazon series. For more information about Poe or the “Selah and the Spades” film, click here.