Filmmaker Pavi Saravanan shooting footage of Mel Bernstein. Photo by Simon Pruitt.
Mel Bernstein sells seashells on a street corner in Lowest Greenville. He’s become local royalty, assuming the moniker “Mel The Shell Man” when he sets up shop.
He was previously featured in the Advocate‘s June issue, which told the story of how he found his way to seashells, his ongoing battle with cancer and the joy that his business bring out of him and others.
SMU film graduate Pavi Saravanan found herself caught up in that same joy this summer.
“Not only did he have so much knowledge about the shells,” she says. “He had so much love and light in him in the way he interacted with me.”
Saravanan’s story is the same as many others who encounter Bernstein. His buoyancy and unbridled enthusiasm for the operation is contagious to everyone who passes by.
“His energy was so beautiful and passionate.” she says. “I left with four shells that day.”
Inspired, Saravanan recruited the help of Lake Highlands High School alum and freelance videographer Oscar Renova to help her produce a documentary short about Bernstein’s life. The project is currently in full swing, with the team following Bernstein as he sells seashells, undergoes treatment and muses about his life.
Saravanan says she plans to submit the film to festivals once completed, adding to both her filmography and the legacy of Lowest Greenville’s king, Mel The Shell Man.
