Commencement Is a Moment of Triumph for TSOA’s Dabkoski
By Richard Pierce
The movies are full of life-affirming moments. Derek Dabkoski, a student from the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, wants to write and direct films but he never expected he would be the center of one of those moments himself. In 2006, the 24-year-old filmmaker survived a near-fatal injury and underwent months of physical therapy to teach him how to walk and talk again. Commencement 2008 marks his return to NYU, where he will march with his classmates from the Tisch School of the Arts.
Dabkoski’s passion for cinema began at an early age. As a teenager growing up in San Francisco, he showed great promise when two of his high school video projects were accepted for the San Francisco and Vancouver International Film Festivals. After two years of undergraduate work at University of California, Berkeley, he transferred to NYU in fall 2004 to realize his dream of earning a degree in film production.
In June 2006, the filmmaker returned home to shoot his senior project, a short film inspired by Kathleen Jamie’s poem The Blue Boat. After spending the day in pre-production for his film, Dabkoski was crossing the street just two blocks from his house when a van raced up to him and a hand reached out and grabbed his backpack. The vehicle dragged him down the street before Dabkoski was able to break free; he suffered massive trauma to his head as he fell to the pavement.
Dabkoski had a fractured right eye and was in a coma for five days. He spent nearly five months in two different hospitals and endured several serious operations. Today, he remains partially paralyzed on his right side and has a shunt in his skull to relieve pressure on the brain. He needs the help of a cane to walk and a three-wheeled scooter for longer distances.
“I can walk about ten blocks now, but then I have to use my scooter to get farther,” he says.
The filmmaker returned to classes in fall 2007 at U.C. Berkeley. Because of the severity of the injuries and his need for continued physical therapy, NYU allowed him to finish his remaining six credits close to home.
“Derek is the real thing—an artist who is going to get his project done no matter what the obstacle,” said Robert Cameron, associate dean for student affairs at Tisch. “Right now his project is to complete his degree. But the grit and determination he has shown in recovering from his accident and finishing his education will be the keys to his success as a filmmaker in the future.”
While Dabkoski was still in the hospital, David Joseph, Derek’s step-grandfather, wrote a poem for his grandson entitled New Morning.
“It had such an impact on me; I decided to use it as the inspiration for a new thesis film,” says Dabkoski.
Though he still needs to raise the $16,000 budget, Dabkoski is determined to begin shooting his film in early June, but not before taking time out to be a part of the Tisch Salute at the WaMu Theatre in Madison Square Garden, where his family will all watch him walk on stage with his classmates.
“He is blessed with a strong support system,” says his mother, Alicia Tarlen. “It brings me great joy to see how far he’s come. I am so proud and so grateful for his recovery.”
Derek Dabkoski
