Brian Silverman ’90 explores identity, acceptance, and blue-collar realities

Writer, actor, director, and producer Brian Silverman ’90 learned something during his undergrad years that still resonates with him: Sometimes you need to hear other points of view that take you outside of your comfort zone. This lesson, he insists, opened his eyes as a young and impressionable first-year student.

“Clark really did a great job, both through my classes and within the campus community, of teaching the ability to think with a counterpoint. Not to deny or negate or disregard other points of view, because those need to be heard as well,” Silverman recalls.

These are the ideals deeply entwined in “Two Lives in Pittsburgh,” Silverman’s directorial debut featuring his original script. Filmed during the summer of 2021 in his hometown of Pittsburgh, the film centers on Bernie, the father of a middle school-aged child who is questioning their gender identity and whose grandmother is ailing, and chronicles this blue-collar family’s journey of denial, change, and acceptance. “Two Lives in Pittsburgh” will be screened at 7 p.m., April 26, in Razzo Hall as part of the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival.

The road to becoming a filmmaker wasn’t a direct one for Silverman — more like a slow burn. Graduating with a degree in government and education, the filmmaker was always interested in acting, but felt pressure — most of it self-imposed — to pursue a more “reasonable” career.

With his true passion stifled, Silverman left Clark feeling too young to launch directly into a teaching career, so he entered the Peace Corps to explore both the world and himself. For three years he worked in agroforestry and hillside agriculture in Haiti and Guatemala, yet continued to feel the tug between the actor’s dream and the stable career he felt was expected of him.https://youtu.be/KEXTDJN8hXs?si=0QrZo7Ry5eMt2HcU

“I remember a conversation with one of my good Peace Corps friends. Inevitably the conversation went, ‘What are you going to do after we finish?’” Silverman’s response? That he he would work up the nerve to go out to Hollywood and become an actor. “And even when I came back, I pushed against that dream,” he remembers. “It took me into my thirties to really turn that dream into a reality.”

The road to filmmaker was one that his Clark degree supported in a circuitous way. “I eventually got a job substitute teaching at a school in California that was great about letting me head to auditions,” he says. He calls that job — one he held for 23 years — his “survival job,” which allowed him to hone his craft while pulling in a steady paycheck. Over those years, he studied acting, performed in Los Angeles theater productions, and landed parts on shows like “Ray Donovan.” In 2019, Silverman produced and starred in the independent feature, “After We Leave.”

Silverman’s time as an educator helped inspire “Two Lives in Pittsburgh,” as many of his students grappled with identity and saw their family ties either strengthened or strained by the struggle. “This relates a bit back to Clark, in offering a view that’s just a little bit counter to what you know — in this case a cis white guy without any other reference outside of the students I came in contact with, with no real tie to the transgender community,” Silverman shares. He found himself wondering how someone from Pittsburgh would handle this experience. It was out of these ruminations that his character Bernie was born.

Silverman says he’s excited to hear what the Clark community has to say about his film. “Two Lives in Pittsburgh” has received positive reviews and raves from the transgender community. It has also won a host of awards including the prestigious Audience Award at Dances With Films, The People’s Choice Award at the Beloit International Film Festival, and multiple Best Narrative Feature Awards at Indie Spirit, OutSouth, Three Rivers, ScreenCritix, Omaha, Alexandria, Durango and Arlington International Film Festival in addition to many other accolades during its festival run.

The April 26 event also will include the world premiere of Clark senior Nicole Overbaugh’s short “Ask the Birds.” Rounding out the lineup will be Clark senior Gyani Pradhan Wong Ah Sui’s “Long Play,” which stars Overbaugh.

Q&A with all three directors will follow the screenings. The event is free and open to the public.