Tag Archives: POV

Project VoiceScape: We All Belong Here

November 17, 2011, 10:09 am • Posted by Matthew Williams
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"My parents traveled by boat and plane before finding a home in San Francisco." Ifeanyi is one of several students in James Lick Middle School's Peer Resources class who is a first generation immigrant. His parents traveled from Abuja, the capital of Nigeria to New York City by boat, lived in Queens, and then flew to San Francisco where they currently reside. Their story is one of success.

However, this is not the case for many immigrant families who struggle to live in the United States. We All Belong Here tells the amazing story of Ifeanyi's family, but the film also glances at what it is like for most immigrants who move here. It is a struggle of economic hardship, abuse, and discrimination. Watch this video that examines the complexities of immigration on a personal level.

Check out the film which was produced by Ifeanyi Ebochie, Andrea Reyes, Jocelyne Umanzor, & Ariande Tziu who are students at James Lick Middle School.

This video was made in collaboration with KQED and San Francisco Peer Resources as part of Project VoiceScape, a partnership with Adobe Youth Voices, PBS, and POV that is aimed at encouraging middle and high school students nationwide to use digital media tools in creating compelling stories about issues and concerns important to them. At Lick Middle School, the students all picked different themes to explore like depression, immigration, graffiti, video game addiction, domestic violence, and race and discrimination. Students produced incredibly poignant films about social issues that personally affect them. Through this personal lens, these films aim to express issues subjectively and do not attempt to hold any sort of objective journalistic integrity. These films also do not represent the opinions of any of the partnering organizations.

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Project VoiceScape's Depression: The Untold Story

October 10, 2011, 2:59 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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At James Lick Middle School, many students have expressed concerns about an increase in teen depression. For 8th graders, Leia, Sofia, and Laura, it affects some of their closest friends. Their film, Depression: The Untold Story, examines this complex issue through their friend Kyle's experience with depression. For Kyle, as the film suggests, being gay caused a lot of turmoil in his relationships with his family and friends, ultimately leading to depression and the will to live. In their film, the student filmmakers wanted to express how adults think the life of teenagers "is much easier than theirs when it's not most of the time."

The film uses dramatizations as ways to illustrate the events that lead up to Kyle's suicide attempt as well as weaves in a blend of found online videos, images, and statistics about teen depression. Below, is the original outline of the film.

This video was made in collaboration with KQED and San Francisco Peer Resources as part of Project VoiceScape, a partnership with Adobe Youth Voices, PBS, and POV that is aimed at encouraging middle and high school students nationwide to use digital media tools in creating compelling stories about issues and concerns important to them. At Lick Middle School, the students all picked different themes to explore like depression, immigration, graffiti, video game addiction, domestic violence, and race and discrimination. Students produced incredibly poignant films about social issues that personally affect them. Through this personal lens, these films aim to express issues subjectively and do not attempt to hold any sort of objective journalistic integrity. These films also do not represent the opinions of any of the partnering organizations.

KQED Education also worked with students from Philip and Sala Burton High School. All of the work was done in collaboration with the San Francisco Ed Fund's Peer Resources program. At Burton, the students all picked the theme of college access as a focus for their films. The concept references financial struggles, immigration issues, lack of support, fears and anxieties.

And now, the film Depression: The Untold Story, produced by Leia Brownson, Sofia Ruiz, and Laura Quintero.

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Project Voicescape's Fatima

September 26, 2011, 1:32 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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Usually, we hear about how teens should not give into peer pressure, but for Fatima, it was peer pressure that influenced her to apply to college. Her friends were the only support to keep her motivated and persevere through the challenges she faced at home. In her film Fatima, co-produced by William Tatlonghari and Eric Lopez, Fatima explores the challenges of growing up with her single mother who walked out on her abusive husband taking Fatima with her. At times, they had to live on the street, struggling to make rent and keep a roof over their heads.

In her film, Fatima explains, "Living with my family has really motivated me in getting out of my house and out of the family that I live with." Although a little unclear, she had issues with her older brother, and that frustration and anger helped her to motivate, succeed, and "beat him in life." Through her adversity, Fatima was able to do well in school and enroll at San Francisco State University.

This is the second video presented from the twelve that were produced at Philip and Sala Burton High School in Bayview. These films were part of Project VoiceScape, a partnership with Adobe Youth Voices, PBS, and POV that is aimed at encouraging middle and high school students nationwide to use digital media tools in creating compelling stories about issues and concerns important to them. At Burton, the students all picked the theme of college access as a focus for their films. The concept references financial struggles, immigration issues, lack of support, fears and anxieties.

KQED Education also worked with students from James Lick Middle School. All of the work was done in partnership with the San Francisco Ed Fund's Peer Resources program. They explored topics like depression, immigration, graffiti, video game addiction, domestic violence, and race and discrimination. Students produced incredibly poignant films about social issues that personally affect them. Through this personal lens, these films aim to express issues subjectively and do not attempt to hold any sort of objective journalistic integrity. These films also do not represent the opinions of any of the partnering organizations.

And without further ado, here's the film Fatima, produced by Fatima Parayno, William Tatlonghari, and Eric Lopez.

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Project VoiceScape's We Need Help

August 31, 2011, 3:20 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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To Shaq, it was not an ordinary chemistry class at San Francisco's Burton High School. That cold spring morning, he had a plan. He was going to film a drug scene in the middle of the lesson. He had his props ready - a small mirror, a dollar bill, and powdered sugar. He sat there prepping the scene on his desk while the teacher posted material on the chalkboard, unaware of the shenanigans occurring in the back of the class. Shaq then took out his flip video camera and began filming without any disruption.

When presenting the footage to his Peer Resources class the following week, it was obvious that the teacher had no clue what was going on. It could have been the real deal. And this aligned perfectly to Shaq's point in his film We Need Help that he co-produced with his classmate Stephanny. The film is about the lack of support high schools have for at-risk youth. To Shaq and Stephanny, most teachers do not know how to read the signs for help from youth who are in need of some kind of intervention. Or maybe the signs are clear, but there are a lack of resources or methods put in place. In any case, the film explores this critical issue through the lens of two fictional characters. One is a drug addict; the other is a pregnant teen.

This is one of twelve student films that were produced at Philip and Sala Burton High School in Bayview. These films were part of Project VoiceScape, a partnership with Adobe Youth Voices, PBS, and POV that is aimed at encouraging middle and high school students nationwide to use digital media tools in creating compelling stories about issues and concerns important to them. At Burton, the students all picked the theme of college access as a focus for their films. The concept references financial struggles, immigration issues, lack of support, fears and anxieties.

KQED Education also worked with students from James Lick Middle School. All of the work was done in partnership with the San Francisco Ed Fund's Peer Resources program. They explored topics like depression, immigration, graffiti, video game addiction, domestic violence, and race and discrimination. Students produced incredibly poignant films about social issues that personally affect them. Through this personal lens, these films aim to express issues subjectively and do not attempt to hold any sort of objective journalistic integrity. These films also do not represent the opinions of any of the partnering organizations.

And without further ado, here's the film We Need Help, produced by Shaqur Hill and Stephanny Castellanos.

Stay tuned for some more highlights and examples of students' films.

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