Rock Falls graduate honored for movie debut at New York film festival

ROCK FALLS – A Rock Falls man is making waves on the film festival circuit.

Frank Harts was recently awarded “Best Narrative Short” for his film, “Be True to Your School,” at the Raindance Film Festival in New York. Harts graduated from Rock Falls High School in 1998, where he was later inducted into the school’s Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 2022. He currently performs in the Academy Award-nominated film, “Rustin,” and has also performed in several television series, including “Blue Bloods” and “Master of None.”

“Raindance is a bucket-list film festival for me,” Harts said. “It’s like a Sundance or a Cannes Film Festival In London; they’re like the largest film festival, and they started this New York branch a few years ago. I was thrilled to get the call. It was exciting to win a festival that you’ve always wanted to be a part of. Hopefully in the spring, we’ll go to the London presentation and do it there as well.”

Know that just because you’re from the cornfields, it doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish your goals. Get out there and make it happen.”

—  Frank Harts, Rock Falls native, actor and director

Harts said “Be True to Your School” is a story about a young Haitian math genius who takes her intellect for granted.

“She starts into a situation where she has to use her skills to live or die,” Harts said. “That’s basically the crux of the film. It has this sort of down-the-rabbit-hole, Alice in Wonderland and Dorothy into Oz vibe, but with a modern twist.”

When planning the film, Harts decided he wanted to tackle one of his childhood fears.

“Surprisingly, that was math, even though my father was a math teacher at Rock Falls High School,” Harts said. “So, I decided to make a film about math even though I wasn’t sure what that was going to be.”

Harts said the answers came to him after watching a YouTube video.

“I was watching Nigerian math geniuses on this game show,” Harts said. “Professors were standing surrounded by podiums with these bright young students. They were firing off these equations in a rapid fashion, and the students were answering, sometimes before they got the full question out. It was amazing. I thought, what would happen if I took a character like that and plopped them down in the middle of the Bronx? That’s what “Be True to Your School” is all about. Appreciating the gifts that we’re given, staying true to them, but more importantly, staying true to who we are.”

This is not Harts’ first time in the director’s chair. In 2022, Harts directed the short film “Two Wongs,” about a pair of brothers from Queens, New York traveling to Maine to avenge their mother’s murder.

“I found something delicious when it comes to the other side of the lens,” Harts said. “I loved finally being able to get some of these stories out of my head, onto the page, and then from the page to the screen. I started with shorter content, which is great for the festival circuit and also for letting studios and networks see what you can do so that they can give you full-length films and television series to work on.”

Not one to wait for an opportunity, Harts is already working on his first feature film about surfing.

“I love surf culture,” Harts said. “I’ve seen so many films over the years that involve surfing, and I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I don’t see many people up there that look like me.’ So, I wanted to make a film with two black leads in a surf film that’s a love story at heart. It’s about a young surfer who is afraid of the water, and his romantic interest helps him overcome that fear. Throughout the film, we see his courage grow again, and a transformative experience gets him back in the water by the end.”

Throughout his success, Harts has remained true to his local roots and gives credit to his early days in Rock Falls.

“I started in the halls of Rock Falls High School and we built some great memories there,” Harts said. “We went to state competition all four years, led by the great Judy Thome, may she rest in peace. I hope to inspire future generations. I had zero connections to the industry when I left home. I had to find ways to do what I wanted. Know that just because you’re from the cornfields, it doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish your goals. Get out there and make it happen.”