Over the course of a year, junior Arianna Canny, an aspiring director, worked on and completed her first documentary which screened on May 7 at the Wilde Auditorium at the University of Hartford, at 7:30 p.m. The film, which was compiled of mostly-daily videos documents Canny’s year as a 16 year old.

    “[The film] was raw and relatable. She did a very nice job of sharing her struggle while not making it the main part of the film. There was humor, reality and great cinematography,” sophomore Lily Fitzherbert said.

   Year 16 chronicalizes Canny’s struggles throughout the year, dealing with staples of teenage life such as family drama, feelings of loneliness and Advance Placement U.S. History homework, in addition to depression.

   While she describes much of what she is thinking and feeling, much of the emotional emphasis is portrayed through the film’s soundtrack.

   “Music is a huge part of my life… I really wanted to try to make other people feel the way I feel about music, to make them feel how I feel,” Canny said.

   In addition to speaking about depression, Canny explores her identity throughout the film as well.

   “I learned a bit about myself from Arianna’s film as well. By her sharing her struggles, I realized I wasn’t alone and that I should take the bad and good days as they come,” Fitzherbert said.

   On her first day of junior year, Canny asked her peers where they saw themselves in the future. Throughout the year, she asked her classmates and family to reflect on their lives and to give their future selves advice.

   “I made it a conceptual thing. Towards the end of the documentary, I tell myself something, my future self, something. So I feel it was cool to ask a bunch of people, then ask myself,” Canny said.

   According to Canny, the idea for the film came from her father, who suggested it on a rowing trip together.

   “I thought the movie was absolutely astonishing and very real, of course. I learned so much about Arianna and can conclude that her film skills are being put to good use,” sophomore Victoria Bouchard said.

   The conception of the film derieves from Arianna’s relationships with her family, whose role in her life is incredibly evident. Throughout the film, she meets her great aunts and uncles for the first time and spends time traveling the country to visit both her maternal and paternal cousins. In the summer, the strength of relationship with her cousin Beth shines through. She is especially close with her younger brother Jameson, who appears in almost every single one of her daily videos.

   “I am so close to him, he is like my best friend. I didn’t actually try to film him, he would just come into my video because we’re always together, we always hang out, always spending time together to support each other,” Canny said.

   The auditorium, which sat 230 people, was largely filled with family, friends and classmates. The day after the screening, the movie was posted on YouTube.