NewEnglandFilm.com

The teenage heroine of Josh Seftel’s new film, Kee Malesky, is a future librarian who has already mastered her cataloguing skills. If she were filing her videotapes as she does her teen magazines she would need to file "Breaking the Mold" first as a Fiction Film – Young Adults, with a cross-reference to Satire – Popular Culture and yet another to Toxic Mold – Health Dangers. The film is all these things as well as being the first foray into narrative film for Seftel, who is well known for his documentaries, including "Lost and Found" and "Taking on the Kennedys."

If the title character’s name sounds familiar it’s because Kee Malesky is the real-life librarian of National Public Radio and regular listeners hear it at the end of the broadcasts. So, how did Seftel end up writing a film whose main character is based on a real person, but in name only? And how and why does the film connect librarians, toxic mold and reality TV?

Seftel explains how the film developed: "I was approached by Maryland Public TV and asked if I was interested in doing a fiction work — I’d never done that before. There was just one catch — it had to be about indoor air quality and it had to appeal to a middle school aged audience." He remained intrigued by the challenge. "They offered me lots of creative control and I thought it would be fun given those constraints," he says.

Seftel says that at the time he was starting to write the script, the state of popular culture was discouraging to him. "Reality TV was getting really big and I was feeling disappointed about mainstream popular TV.

"I think of librarians as the keepers of all that is good and meaningful in the world, so the idea of having a librarian as the hero was refreshing," he says. One day he was telling his sister about his ideas and asked her who she thought was the most famous librarian in the country. Her reply was, "Oh, its Kee Malesky on NPR!" Inspiration had found its subject and Seftel began his script with Malesky as the main character. "I tracked her down and sent her the script," he says. Seftel asked Malesky to lend her name to the project and she agreed saying, "Well, I can’t think of a good reason to say no."

"Breaking the Mold" is a departure from genre as well as tone for the filmmaker, who has an impressive catalog of documentary work to his credit. His first film, "Lost and Found" (1992) about the plight of children in Romanian orphanages, won many accolades and was nominated for an Emmy, despite the fact that he made it with a borrowed video camera and had no previous filmmaking experience.

"I was supposed to go to med school after college," he says. "But after I finished I really wanted to try filmmaking." After "Lost and Found" Seftel continued making films, including the highly praised, "Taking on the Kennedys" about Patrick Kennedy’s first race for Congress in Rhode Island, and "Ennis’s Gift" a film about learning differences. The film was commissioned by the Cosby Foundation in memory of Camille and Bill Cosby’s son Ennis who had earned advance degrees in education despite his own learning differences.

By contrast, the new film is fictional and filled with humor. Seftel describes it as a "subversive ‘After School Special,’" referring to the social issue programs aimed at adolescents and teens that aired on ABC-TV for more than 20 years. Adults who grew up watching the program remember the shows with bemused nostalgia. "’Breaking the Mold’ satirizes some of the earnestness of those specials," he says.

Although "Breaking the Mold" is his first foray into fictional filmmaking, he uses the familiar documentary style to tell the story. Scott Simon, another familiar voice to NPR listeners is the narrator. There is mock archival footage of Kee’s family and newspaper headlines intercut to advance the story.

Kee (played by Danielle Perry) is a depressed teen whose real talents for research have been overshadowed in the family by her brother’s hockey success. Her friend Shelly the teenaged PR maven, gets her cast on a reality show. While living in the house for the show, Kee suffers a near fatal asthma attack and she suspects something in the house made her sick. So begins her quest to find the culprit (toxic mold) and in the process, reawakens her enthusiasm for research. For casting, Seftel was able to mine the fertile ground of the Boston improv scene, notably casting Zabeth Russell as the teenaged Shelly.

Seftel recently moved to New York, after being based in the Boston area for many years. When it was time to shoot the film, he returned to the familiar locales and crews in New England. Seftel and his production team were looking for someplace around Boston and found the city of Lowell to be suitable and welcoming. "Lowell was so interested in having us there, they made it easy for us," he says.

Seftel’s first fiction film accomplishes an ambitious agenda, and judging from the favorable reception from critics and audiences, Seftel has succeeded. "Breaking the Mold" has toured the festival circuit and won the Jury Prize at the Chicago International Film Festival. The film aired on PBS stations nationwide in April as part of the "Enviromysteries" series and garnered a fine review from The New York Times.

"Response to the film has been positive," he says. "It has played to a wide audience from middle-school kids on up." He compares the humor to that of "The Simpsons" in that there are jokes for all ages and adults will see humor that the younger audience misses and vice versa.

One of the most receptive audiences was at the screening at NPR’s Washington headquarters, arranged by Malesky. Seftel says that the house was full and every joke was appreciated, which is always rewarding for the filmmaker.

After the Boston premiere at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, a review in the Boston Herald compared the film to the television show "Arrested Development," which pleased the filmmaker. "I liked that because I like that show. I came up with the film before the show started. It’s always nice to be paired with something you admire."

Seftel’s current gig is directing for the Bravo show, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," which he characterizes as "fun" but cannot discuss in detail because of a confidentiality clause in his contract. He is also at work writing a "mini-pilot" of an adult show for Fox-TV.

"I enjoy all the work," he says. "With documentary, you find an interesting world and you become part of it. You make sense of it in the editing room. With fiction, you create your own world. You decide who the characters are — their hairstyles, what they have on their bedroom walls. It’s really fun, a nice change." Seftel sees no need to choose between the different works, "The two works inform each other," he says, "Documentary fills the well for fiction ideas."

Seftel’s well of ideas seems to be full as he continues to develop as a director, writer and producer. Although he may have considered the healing arts as a career, after more than a decade as a successful filmmaker, it’s safe to say that Josh Seftel has found his calling in the visual arts.