Darren Aronofsky Returns To Coney Island Alma Mater
The students at Mark Twain School for the Gifted and Talented I.S. 239 (2401 Neptune Avenue) got a very special guest last week.
Academy Award-nominated director Darren Aronofsky was inducted into the Coney Island junior high school’s Alumni Hall of Fame at a March 26 ceremony, during which Senator Marty Golden presented a New York State resolution recognizing the director as a recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, the graduate of I.S. 239’s Class of 1983, went on to attend Harvard University and the American Film Institute. Aronofsky’s first feature film Pi made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998.
Since then, Aronofsky has directed renowned movies like Requiem For A Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, and most recently, Noah. The director credits his 7th grade English teacher, Vera Fried, for inspiring his creative writing after a Noah-themed poem he wrote for her class went on to win a United Nations poetry competition. Aronofsky even tracked Fried down and offered her a cameo in his latest film to demonstrate his appreciation, reported our sister site Sheepshead Bites.
During last week’s visit to his old stomping ground, Aronofsky posted several Instagram photos of the neighborhood, including one of the corner where a scene from Requiem for a Dream was filmed, and a short clip of Luna Park’s lit-up parachute jump.
Students, it seems, were excited to have the acclaimed director in their midsts. One commenter wrote on Aronofsky’s Instagram account, “thank you for speaking at our school today! (mark twain) it was very inspiring.”
Another student, Justin Foster, expressed a similar enthusiasm to News 12.
“It’s inspiring to me, because I’m a drama talent. It feels good, because I want to be in the movie business,” he said.
