Alumnus Sidney King: Movie Maker!

One of EMHS’s own alumni has gone out into the world and made a name for himself.

Sidney King, the director of the film Pearl Diver, walked down these same halls that we do today. King came to EMHS for three and a half years and graduated in 1995.

King looks back at his years of high school and recalls mentors he had at EMHS that helped lead to his interest of being a director. He remembers Gloria Diener, his English teacher, encouraging him to become a writer, even though he wanted to become an editor.  Like some of us, he has taken classes with Mrs. Gautcher, Mr. Elwood Yoder, and Mr. Hartzler. King is thankful for the many opportunities he had at EMHS. He was a part of extra curriculars such as Touring Choir, the Windsock and a member of the soccer team. From EMHS, he went on to the University of Cincinnati Conservatory for a year and then transferred to Goshen College where he studied for three years.

             King’s film career started when he made his first documentary in college. He received grant money from the documentary, which helped to fund his production of Pearl Diver.  Pearl Diver was shot in 17 days, which is a very short time frame compared to an average movie shooting which can take 70 to 90 days.

The movie Pearl Diver is about two sisters who grew up in a conservative Mennonite community. When they were both young, their mother was killed in a terrible murder.  Twenty years later, they both go on to lead two very different lives, one staying near home, marrying and having a daughter and the other moving to Chicago to become a writer.  When the man who killed their mother is given the opportunity to be released from prison, the two sisters' viewpoints clash on how the situation should be handled. The movie follows their journey as they try to agree upon a decision.   

Sidney King got the idea for the movie Pearl Diver from hearing about a conservative girl who got hurt in an accident. Borrowing from that story, he added his own ideas to form what we now know as Pearl Diver. Thanks to some of his family and friends, King found people who were willing to work on the movie for free or provide props and other forms of assistance for the making of the movie.  One of the biggest struggles of directing this movie for King was trying to balance making the movie marketable but not compromising the story.

Pearl Diver is an independent screen film. Unlike large films done in Hollywood, independent films have a different pace about them. “Some Hollywood films tell you exactly what the moral of the story is and you know exactly how you should feel about it and all the good people are rewarded and all the bad people are punished. And that is not how things really work out,” says King. He continued on this thought, saying “Is your art like a mirror that reflects life or as a tool to change reality? Which is it?” 

Looking to the future, Kings says he has lots of additional movie ideas to go on. One movie idea would be set in the Chesapeake Bay during World War II. Another movie idea is based on a true story about Hutterite brothers from Montana who wouldn’t fight during World War II and were tortured to death because of their stand.

For more information on his movie Pearl Diver go to pearldivermovie.com.

- Rose Jantzi (picture of King from goshen.edu; poster from movie website)