A year ago, I had the great privilege of working alongside Rebecca Parrish, doing location sound recording for Jen Gilomen, one of the filmmakers behind Working Films documentary Deep Down when they brought their film’s protagonist Beverly May to Chicago. They were here for an ITVS Community Cinema Screening, but first stopped by Little Village to meet the members of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) to learn about their fight against several toxic industries, including two huge coal power plants that were poisoning the air and the people in those neighborhoods.
LVEJO member Ian took us on a walking tour of his neighborhood, where we got to stand right outside the towering gates of the Fisk plant in Pilsen. The change in the quality of air I was breathing was immediately noticeable. There was no running away from the foul smell of chemicals in the air. As I crinkled my nose and started to fear the effect breathing the air would have on my brain that day, I wondered how the City of Chicago could allow such a toxic-emitting plant to carry on running right where people’s homes are. A 2010 study showed that pollution from the Fisk and Crawford plants alone leads to 42 premature deaths, 66 heart attacks and 720 asthma attacks each year!
Fast forward to today, I found myself back in Pilsen, where the smoke stack of the Fisk plant towered over me once again. A large crowd had gathered in the park across the street carrying signs and chanting continuously. This time, the looks on the faces of Pilsen residents were ones of sheer joy and celebration. Just yesterday, news broke that both coal plants in Chicago will soon shut down.
That’s when Greenpeace, one of the organizations that’s been fighting for this for years, called me to help document this historic victory.
Visit their blog to read their recap of the day and watch a clip of Lelia Mendez, a member of the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO), giving an emotionally-charged speech.
(Thank you Mitch, for passing this opportunity along. It was so great to come full circle.)
I’d never thought of it that way before. Maybe that’s why some of us are in a flux of constantly doing things, and yet constantly feeling like we haven’t accomplished much in life. When we raise our grades in one measure, we find ourselves looking at the other measures and going “well, but I haven’t done X.”
Maybe that’s why some of us struggle with our parents. We’d write home happily about the lives we’d touched in the community, only to be given the failing grade by them because we weren’t already making the big fat paycheck they’d hoped their college educated child would be making.
So how do you grade yourself? Are you measuring your success by your standards, or someone else’s?
The Learning Log is a reflection of the lessons I pick up while reading my books. I hope the points picked out will inspire you as much as they’ve impacted me.
It’s amazing how quickly 8 weeks goes by when you’re immersed in work you’re passionate about. The Cabrini Connections Reel Talent Productions internship ran successfully and 3 teenage girls emerged with a renewed sense of confidence about who they are and what they can achieve. Here’s a peek at what went down.
Summary
Our interns Alicia Ward, Melissa Young and Marquita Fisher
In Summer 2011, 3 teenage interns came together to produce a short documentary about health and sports participation in their communities. With the generous help of Girls In The Game and Kartemquin Films, the result was 8 weeks of immersive, hands-on learning for the girls. Their finished film “Girls In Action” premiered on Aug 24, 2011 to over 50 people, and the screening was followed by a thoughtful Q&A session about the issues. Girls In Action will also be featured as a companion web video for In The Game, a Kartemquin Films doc-in-progress about Title IX, gender equality in sports, and how change takes place in a democracy.
Summer Squad
Teaching the younger generation that sports can be fun and that it's good to stay active!
In order for our interns to produce a well-informed and thoughtful documentary, they had to first learn about the issue at hand – why there is a lack of participation in sports among girls in their community. So we kicked things off by sending them to spend a week at Girls In The Game’s Summer Squad. There, our girls not only participated in daily workouts, but also learned about the media’s role in influencing perceptions of sports participation. They had to think about important questions like:
• How much coverage are women’s sports given in the media?
• How does the media portray sportswomen?
• How does that influence a teenage girl’s desire to be active?
• What can I as a filmmaker to do change perceptions and encourage more girls to be active?
Field Trip: Chicago Premiere of The Interrupters
Getting an autograph from Ameena Matthews of CeaseFire at The Interrupters premiere
To give our interns an understanding of how social issue documentary can inform audiences and affect change, we took them to the Gene Siskel Film Center for the Chicago premiere of The Interrupters, the newest film from Kartemquin Films (Hoop Dreams). It was an eye-opening experience for them to see a documentary film by the legendary Steve James, and to witness great audience discussion after with the filmmakers and subjects.
The Big Premiere
After weeks of hard work, Girls In Action was finally complete.
Our girls hard at work out in the field!
Our interns had the opportunity to screen their new documentary to the award-winning filmmakers at Kartemquin Films. The big day began with a special sit-down lunch with the producers and director of In The Game, where the girls got to share their experience and ask questions of Kartemquin’s Executive Director Justine Nagan, Producer Mary Morrissette, and Director Maria Finitzo herself.
After screening Girls In Action to the wonderful folks at Kartemquin Films
That same evening, our interns planned a big screening at Cabrini Connections itself. There was an overwhelming turnout of support from the interns’ friends, family members, subjects of the film, internship mentors, representatives from Girls In The Game, and staff of Cabrini Connections. The place was bustling with excitement as the girls geared up to screen their film a second time that day.
The crowd at Cabrini Connections listens carefully during the Q&A session after watching Girls In Action
Following the screening, the interns invited representatives from Girls In The Game up front to join in the Q&A session. Questions from audience members came fast and furious – first about issues covered in the film and what we can do about it, and later about the filmmakers’ experience. Our girls had set a goal for their film to inform, inspire and influence, and based on the questions audience members were asking, we can say they’ve achieved it. They handled the Q&A very well and we are very proud of what they’d accomplished in such a short period of time.
Summing Up
Our three interns had, over the course of 8 weeks, learned so much more than how to use a camera. They learned:
how to think critically about an issue and structure their story in a manner that would convey a positive message to their audience.
professional communication skills such as how to set up interviews, how to send a professional e-mail, and how to follow-up with a thank you note after.
basic job responsibilities such as showing up punctually, completing tasks on time, and communicating with teammates clearly and effectively.
to exercise their public speaking skills by standing in front of an audience, presenting their work, and taking questions after.
how to carry on as champions of healthy living and keeping an active lifestyle.
As with all good things, the internship had to come to an end. We sent our girls off with the hope for bright futures ahead for them all. Go now, and take flight!
Group photo on the last day. Melissa, Marquita and Alicia hold special DVD copies of their work and photographs for memories.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of my two fellow instructors, Jane Wang and Jonathan Vogel. I couldn’t have asked for a better team to take this adventure on with me.
“I think this is what all of us as artists want – we want our audience to come away changed emotionally in some way. To take the experience of watching a film, and integrate it into their own life, and have an emotional experience about that viewing; that may be positive, that may be negative, but it is moving.
I think we all wanna move people emotionally. And that’s what art does best.”
– Maria Finitzo, Peabody Award-winning Filmmaker
You’ve hit the nail on the head and taken the words right outta my mouth, Maria. Thank You for being a huge role model and inspiration in my life.
Shuling Yong 