He's his own action hero

Stoughton High athlete produces documentary on high school basketball

Stoughton's Edwin Saladin will play with the 11th- and 12th-grade boys' team in the Bay State Games next week, and later this month compete in a national AAU tourney in Florida. (Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)

If Edwin Saladin were a film critic, he would give his documentary enough stars to create a constellation. Never mind that he is entering his senior year at Stoughton High, whose 8-minute documentary was for a class project.

In his opinion, "The Life of a High School Basketball Player" was pure film genius, or at least good enough to win the $500 prize at a local film festival.

"It had a lot of action in it," Saladin said. "The whole film keeps you into it. I thought, 'No other documentary in this competition is going to be this exciting.'

"A lot of documentaries are usually boring. You don't even want to watch them. Mine was like, 'That's cool.' "

Forgive Saladin if he sounds a little cocky; "I was just proud of what I did," he said.

The cash didn't pour in, but Saladin did receive an A.

Saladin is the kind of teenager likely to nudge a smile or laugh from his peers when he talks. He opens doors for women. He introduces himself with a handshake. And sometimes when he is in the midst of a story, he cracks himself up.

"He's a terrific kid, full of life, friendly and funny," said Don Byron, his Amateur Ath letic Union coach. "He's just very easy to like."

Saladin has played AAU basketball with BABC South for the past two years and during the winter plays for John Gallivan at Stoughton High. When Saladin was assigned the video project for Elizabeth Meyer's class, he chose to chronicle his life balancing school and basketball.

While in the midst of the AAU season, his friends chipped in to film practices and games. His friend Melany Almeida generated questions to ask him on camera. They set up chairs at an angle facing the camera in the school hallway.

"When I was interviewing, I felt like I was on a show like 'Oprah' or something," Almeida said. "It felt really good."

They were careful to watch their pace during the interview: not too fast, not too slow. Saladin then edited the footage down to about 8 minutes and made sure to address the challenges of being a student athlete. He is an honor roll student, and maintaining that ranking can be stressful.

"It's not just playing games and stuff," Saladin said. "It's hard to get your homework done. Sometimes you get tired from practice and you have to come home and do your homework. If you don't do it, your teacher will tell your coach, so it keeps you on task because you love basketball so much."

Last month, Saladin's documentary was entered into the Hockomock Film Festival. He was hopeful for the cash prize, but received a certificate, the equivalent of a participation ribbon.

Saladin said he wasn't too disappointed that he didn't place at the festival.

"I'm not really a filmmaker, so obviously, I'm not going to win against people trying to win, but it was worth it," he said.

A future in movies is up in the air, but Saladin is more than dedicated to basketball. His skills and 6-foot-3, 203-pound frame have attracted attention from Division 2 and Division 3 programs.

"That's realistic for him," Byron said. "He's a good college prospect. He loves playing. He just puts a lot of time into his game and into improving his game. He's very athletic and shoots the ball well."

Saladin will be busy this summer. First he will join the Southeast 11th- and 12th-grade boys' team in the Bay State Games, which taps off a week from today.

Later this month he will play with the BABC South squad in Florida for a national AAU tournament.

Byron said he has been in touch with Gallivan and they have both seen Saladin develop into a more mature player and student.

"He's active in his classes and been a leader around the building," Byron said. "He's got goals and he's setting out to accomplish them."

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com.