Academy Award nominated director returns to Coney roots at Mark Twain

March 26, 2015 Anna Spivak
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There was a five-star welcome in the works at Mark Twain (I.S. 239) as the School for the Gifted and Talented inducted Academy Award nominated director and Class of 1983 graduate Darren Aronofsky into its Alumni Hall of Fame on Thursday, March 26.

Born and raised in Brooklyn with strong ties to Coney Island, the director behind blockbusters like “Black Swan,” “Requiem for a Dream,” “The Wrestler,” and “Noah,” took home a Distinguished Alumni Award from the middle school and had his photograph hung up next to Academy Award winning actor Louis Gossett Jr., the school’s first Alumni Hall of Fame inductee.

“It’s nice to be back and the reception is great,” said Aronofsky. “The kids are incredibly talented. It’s very touching and it’s always nice to reconnect.”

The director spoke to the students about pursuing their passions and appreciating their teachers, urging them always to “keep learning.”

“I was a math talent person when I was here,” said Aronofsky, who discovered his passion for writing in Vera Fried’s creative writing class back in 1982. “I wasn’t in [the] creative writing [talent] even though I do a lot of that now. It doesn’t mean that your path is going to lead to whatever talent you’re in. It means that there are a million possibilities.”

Aronofsky felt so inspired by Fried that he even gave her a small part in his 2014 film, “Noah.” After reaching out to Fried, Aronofsky told the students that it helped some of her other former students reconnect with her.

“Here she was,” Aronofsky said of his former teacher, “I guess she was approaching 80 years old and she had felt like she was forgotten. After I got in touch with her, she got onto Facebook and all the different social media, and started reconnecting with a lot of her students and [it] turns out that not only was I touched by her, but so many others were touched as well.

“So you’ll find as the years go by,” he continued, “that some of the teachers you have here have taught you something that you’ll hold on to and then be able to turn it into something for yourself. You’re in a special place and I think the only kind of wisdom I can give you is to keep learning.”

Principal Karen Ditolla was especially excited to have Aronofsky back at the school and speaking to the students.

“It’s amazing and we’re super excited,” said Ditolla. “This is a person who is so humble and has actually come to the school several times to meet with our kids and share his ideas. I think it’s really important because I want them to see him, see his path, and know that they too can go down the same path and be successful.”

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