High school students create Behrman film

Over 200 people filled the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Wednesday to watch a student-produced documentary celebrating the life of Jill Behrman, which will soon be sent to the National Media Fair.\nThe documentary about Behrman, an IU student who disappeared May 31, 2000, and whose death recently has been confirmed by Monroe County authorities, consisted of photos of Behrman at all ages and interviews with her friends and family. \nThe first segment of the film focused on Behrman's childhood. Clips were shown of teachers and friends describing her as a very outgoing, intelligent and honest person. The film also showed how much she loved cycling and the thrill riding gave her. \n"This was my first time seeing the documentary," said Marilyn Behrman, Jill's mother. "I was really amazed at the kids' maturity and dedication to this project. They put a lot of time and effort in it, and it shows."\nThe documentary also described the efforts of Peg Howard, who started Jill's House, Inc., a residence center for child cancer patients near the IU Cyclotron. It was created in honor of Jill and will open this summer. \nThe 15-minute film, which was made by 10 Bloomington High School South students, ended with a touching photo montage of Jill.\n"Our goal was to inform people of Jill's life and how great of a person she was rather than focus on her death," filmmaker and student Greg Parker said. "We chose to make a documentary on Jill because she went through the same experiences as us. She grew up in Bloomington, went to BMS (Batchelor Middle School) and Bloomington South."\nChrista Coffey, another filmmaker, said she was happy at the community's response to the film.\n"Hopefully they learned something about Jill," she said. \nThe filmmakers are sending the documentary to the National Media Fair, where students around the country will compete in different media categories. \n"Before we sent it off to the media fair, we thought it would be a good idea to show the community," Parker said. \nThe filmmakers were assisted and advised by Jeff Rudkin, a media teacher at Batchelor Middle School in Bloomington. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a film made by Mr. Rudkin's media class, followed the screening of the Behrman documentary.