This summer, I’m working with other students in the International Field Program from The New School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One of our projects is conducting a youth media class in the favelas, to teach media/filming skills to the kids of these communities. My group is working in the community Nova Holanda, in the Complexo da Maré. It is about an hour van ride from Copacabana, and is a fascinating favela, still un-pacified.

We are working with youth (13-17 years old) who are part of the organization Luta Pela Paz. We have met with our students about three times now, and there is a lot of potential there! Our objective in this program is to teach them the basics of shooting and editing  documentary films. Throughout the course, they will watch clips from documentaries, learn how to use the equipment, and have a chance to make their own mini documentary.

In this final video, we want them to work off of the theme “JOGAR” which means “to play”. In the first lesson, we workshopped this word, to explain that it can have many interpretations. It is our hope that these students take this idea and explore what it means in their lives in a way that is transformative and thought-provoking. Already we have started to see how different forms of play have affected their lives – judo, boxing, theater, etc.