By Jody Hassett Sanchez | Project Founder
A story doesn't argue principles but it does proffer understanding of ideas and their consequences ... when such things are embodied in the lives of fully realized characters.
- James Calvin Schaap
The characters in our students' documentaries take us beyond the simplistic headlines about Africa that we are so often offered. The Africans they introduce us to are fully formed individuals who work and play and wrestle with hardships and affect extraordinary change, rather than the one dimensional "Africans" frequently presented in news clips by visiting journalists. Their films remind us that there's a world larger than the one that we inhabit. Their work persuades us of the compelling need to train and support these local story-tellers so we can all benefit from their work.
Right now our graduates are interviewing and filming the characters who will appear in their next short documentaries. They're working in Liberia, Cameroon, Kenya and one, as an African exile struggling to adapt to life in the US. Our role is to mentor them from afar, review and help them revise their films, then partner with them to find the best international venues for their work.
We are currently considering organizing our next documentary bootcamp for young journalists in India next summer. In the months ahead, we will be working to identify candidates for the program and mapping out possible partnerships with existing organizations on the ground.
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