A Look at Some Wayland Films in Honor of Oscar Sunday

Wayland isn't crawling with "industry" types eager to "have your people call my people," but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a strong film culture made all the stronger by the recent successes of some hometown filmmakers.

As we look forward to Sunday's Academy Awards, we wanted to look back on some recent Wayland-connected films.

Fiction and non-fiction, set close to home or on the other side of the world, major Wayland films have tackled a variety of topics in the past two years. Here's a look back:

- Girlfriend (2010) Written and directed by Wayland High School grad Justin Lerner and starring Evan Sneider, another Wayland High alum, "Girlfriend" hasn't attracted Oscar buzz, but it does have a and a number of prestigious awards to its credit.

Oh, and a respectable number of showings in theaters and at universities throughout the country.

"Girlfriend," shot entirely in Wayland and starring some of Wayland's own police officers, enjoyed a premiere at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival.

According to the film's website, "Girlfriend" is about Evan, a young man with Down syndrome who romantically pursues a down-on-her-luck single mother, Candy, played by Shannon Woodward of TV’s “Raising Hope.”

“Despite his many hardships and the seeming impossibility of Candy being able to return his love, Evan struggles to remain a resilient, pure embodiment of human compassion,” the synopsis reads.

- My So-Called Enemy (2010) This documentary was directed by Wayland filmmaker Lisa Gossels. It has enjoyed an impressive run through the festival circuit and has secured multiple awards, including the 2011 CINE Golden Eagle for Documentary Feature.

“My So-Called Enemy” is follows six of the 22 Palestinian, Israeli and Palestinian Israeli girls who traveled to the United States in a 2002 for the women's leadership program "Building Bridges for Peace."

The film is about how the girls' "transformative experience in the program, of knowing their 'enemies' as human beings, meets with the realities of their lives at home in the Middle East over the next seven years," according to the film's website.

"My So-Called Enemy" continues to enjoy screenings throughout the country and will be shown locally at in Needham on Sunday, Feb. 26.

- Kenya: Passing the Baton (2011) Directed by Wayland resident John Michalczyk, "Kenya: Passing the Baton" is a documentary that looks at the aftermath of the post-election riots in the African country and the country's efforts to recover and move forward.

The film premiered at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in September and has since enjoyed screenings at various locations.

“The film is very optimistic,” . “It gives a very dark image – it’s like a bump in the road of Kenya’s history – but it ends with the light of a new constitution.”

These are the films we know about from the past couple of years, but there are no doubt others. Have you seen these films? Do you have a favorite Wayland-connected film? Who do you expect to see bringing home a golden statue some day?