 |
IN FOCUS: ARTICLE |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Lights! Camera! Activism!
by Hilary Goldstein
Photos courtesy of David Nanasi, 12.22.04
"Media gets more into your thoughts than just words — it makes you think by bringing up images and issues you're familiar with even if it's not about you." |
|
Can a film really change the world? P.O.V., public television's independent nonfiction filmmaking series, thinks it can. And with its innovative Youth Views Institute program, which connects young people with filmmakers and community organizers, P.O.V. is taking this message to society's often silent majority — youth — to demonstrate that a movie can be more than just an excuse to grab some popcorn.
Media Matters
P.O.V.'s Youth Views Institute brings young people between the ages of 16 and 20 from across the country to New York City for an intensive weekend of workshops and training sessions on media literacy and activism. Workshops cover a variety of topics, from how to reach audiences through media campaigns to how to be ethical in filming someone else's story. The goal is to teach young people to use independent media responsibly in their communities to effect positive social change.
Jonathan Wheatly, a 17-year-old high school junior and member of Project Reach, a program that serves at-risk youth in New York, is a member of the P.O.V's Youth Views Advisory Board. He believes video can be an effective tool for engaging his peers. "Media gets more into your thoughts than just words — it makes you think by bringing up images and issues you're familiar with even if it's not about you," he says.
Meet the Board
P.O.V.'s Youth Views Advisory Board is made up of a handful of New York City teens who work together to select films to be shown at the institute's workshops, and to develop additional materials that are made available to youth leaders nationwide.
In addition to Jonathan, this year's board includes Arielle Schwartz, an 18-year-old student at Columbia University who is active with Amnesty International, and Tenyeng Senyel, a 17-year-old from Newcomers High School who works with Students for a Free Tibet.
For Arielle, participating on the board has been a chance to apply new media literacy skills to her already avid interest in activism. "We watched about 16 movies from the P.O.V. archive and came together to discuss them and decide on the best films to use to bring back to our communities," she says.
Now Showing
The board's first selection was Scout's Honor, a film about a 12-year-old straight boy who launched a grassroots campaign to overturn the Boy Scouts' policy barring gay men from leading scout troops. The issues in the film echo today's heated debates over the legality of gay marriage, but the film has a broader reach, too. "It can also really inspire kids [to realize] that they can stand up ... for what they think is right," says Arielle.
The second film, ¡Pa'lante Siempre Pa'lante!, tells the story of the Young Lords, a radical group of Puerto Rican youth from East Harlem who became active in the early 1970s around important issues affecting their community, including health care and prison reform. Called a gang by some and a revolutionary movement by others, the Young Lords occupy a place in history largely overlooked in textbooks.
"I found a lot of inspiration in Siempre because it's about a nonviolent minority group rising to great heights," says Tenyeng. She believes the story of the Young Lords will strike a chord with the Tibetan community and their own political struggle.
Teaching Outside the Book
According to Irene Villasenor, the Youth Views Institute manager, textbooks don't always connect with the reality of today's teens or the experiences of different races, histories, or genders. "Depending on who you are and where you come from, you can have an entirely different point of view," she says. The films chosen each year for the institute explore an often forgotten history that can provide important lessons for youth.
Jonathan agrees. For him, the project is not only about learning new histories, but also about finding a voice. Already active in organizing around issues related to gangs and police brutality with Project Reach, Jonathan believes the P.O.V. program activates young people and empowers them to get their issues out to a larger audience. "It's not just about feeding info at you," he says. "P.O.V. came to us and they pay attention to what we say. Fox News isn't going to do that." |
|
|
|
Printable Version
Email this page