Albany filmmaker Noëlle Gentile premieres ‘I Was Here’ on WMHT

ALBANY — Noëlle Gentile’s new short film “I Was Here” airs on WMHT’s “TvFilm” series on July 10. With the local premiere of the new film following festival screenings around the U.S., the former Albany High School drama teacher is now a writer-director, a published author and an acting coach with a long list of high-profile Hollywood projects on her resume.

For Gentile, the filmmaking journey has been anything but linear. She has always been enchanted by “the communal aspect of making something together and storytelling.” In elementary school, she performed theater, a passion that she would continue to pursue after graduation. After moving to the Big Apple, she worked with New York State Theatre Institute and created a handful of short films. However, constantly auditioning and “waiting for someone else” to allow her to make art took its toll. So instead, she began working as a theater teacher.

In Brooklyn, Gentile piloted her own theater program at a local public school. It was her first time “devising new work with students,” and it was an incredible experience for her, she recalled. Once she had her first child, Isla, she moved back to Albany, but continued working in the intersection of theater and education. Teaching at Albany School of Humanities and Albany High School for nearly a decade was “one of the most life-affirming periods of time for me in terms of work and creation,” she said. She was moved by the creativity and lived experiences of her students, who she collaborated with to create deeply personal theater pieces like “Hers,” which explores what womanhood means to teenagers in the 21st century. 

“The entire time I was at the high school, I felt like a working artist,” Gentile said.

Her big break came when a friend recommended her as an acting coach for the Jeremiah Zagar film “We the Animals.” Zagar then brought her on for his next film “Hustle,” starring Adam Sandler. Through that film, she began working with the actor-comedian “each year since 2020.” She is still in awe that she was able to find her way back to the industry after leaving it so many years ago. 

“Your story’s never written. You write it. It doesn’t matter how old you are,” she said.

While acting coach opportunities allowed Gentile to tap into the communal aspect of art that drew her to this industry in the first place, she said her artistic inclinations have always guided her toward the director’s chair.

Art is a crucial way for Gentile to process some of her most emotionally taxing experiences, she explained. Her older daughter, Isla, has a newly discovered rare genetic disorder and was in and out of the hospital from age 2 to 9. In that period of time, “we didn’t know how long we had with Isla,” she said. 

However, the art she has created focuses on the blessing that is her daughter and the relationships she has with her family. Her picture book “Isla & Lulu,” for instance, revolves around the bond between Isla and her younger sibling, and how they look out for one another. “One of the greatest gifts of my life is their love for each other,” said Gentile.

Her new short film may not reference her children by name like her book, but it is nonetheless a love letter to the hardships they have overcome. “I Was Here” follows two parents — portrayed by Jordana Spiro and Raúl Castillo — who learn of their son’s dire diagnosis and visit a grief counselor. 

The film was inspired by Gentile and her husband’s own visit to a grief counselor, and one moment in particular stuck with her.

“When we left the grief counselor, she said, ‘I bet (Isla) is spectacular.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my god, she’s right.’ Even with all of the trauma of being in and out of the hospital, it’s been a spectacular journey,” she said. 

And as a result of directing, writing and producing “I Was Here,” Gentile said “the memory of making the film is now stronger than the actual period of time that the film is about.” She is grateful for the catharsis that art has given her and views it as a form of healing. Her hope is that one person can feel seen after watching the short.

Gentile is already working on her next project. After screening the short film to fellow filmmakers, they told her it seemed like the conclusion to an incredible story. After looking through archival footage, she realized there was potential for an even larger, but similarly personal project. That project will take the form of a feature-length documentary, “Growing Up Rare,” exploring how Isla and Lulu navigated Isla’s medical hardships, their own unique passions for art and their close-knit bond throughout the years.

“It’s a real celebration of the light and the brilliance that Isla is in the world and a celebration of what it looks like to be truly in community together — to truly have community show up (and) to truly see each person for the light that they are,” Gentile said.