LEWISTON – A locally produced anti-drunk driving film will become part of the state’s driver’s education curriculum.

Maine Driver Education Program Manager Eric Bellevance approved “Smashed,” a film written and produced by the Lewiston Youth Advisory Council, for statewide use.

“Hopefully, the emotion expressed in this film will cause people, young and old, to think about their choices,” Bellevance said in a written statement. “The tragedy of losing a young person to any accident, but especially one involving alcohol, has many painful and lasting effects on the people who are left behind, and your film does a good job bringing this to light.”

The film tells the story of a high school student, Elisa, killed in a drunken-driving accident. The film uses a counseling session to refer to the crash and the events that led up to it – kids getting ready for the prom, buying alcohol and goofing off during lectures on drinking and driving.

It culminates in a traffic accident, filmed in August on Foss Road. LYAC member Jenni Golletti plays Elisa, the girl killed in the wreck. Local actors and other members of the youth council play her friends – some injured in the wreck, and others trying to cope afterward.

Filming was funded through a Maine Bureau of Highway Safety grant. It premiered Oct. 29 at Auburn Flagship Cinema to a standing-room-only crowd.

Council members hope the film will be used by teachers and coaches as part of the regular driver’s education curriculum. It’s part of the youth council’s “U Booze U Looze” campaign unveiled in February.

The council plans to put the video on their “U Booze U Looze” Web site, www.uboozeulooze.org. They have several DVD copies of the movie that they are loaning to local groups.

The movie was reviewed by Bellavance and his staff, and was test marketed to a group of area health teachers.