After 2 months teaching the youth media course, we ended up with some amazing documentary videos! In late July, we held a film screening for the community where we screened 7 short films documenting the lives of each student with an emphasis on an aspect of play in their life. Each kid filmed most of their material and directed the structure of the film, while the teachers came in at the end to do the editing.

The idea of play takes on many meanings – from its literal definition in boxing and judo, extending to theater, video gaming, religion, and more. In these videos, it becomes very clear how sports can change a person’s life and how it provides strength and hope in times of difficulty and stress.

Check out our students’ documentaries and the work we did with them this past summer on the Maré em Foco Blog page. Most of the videos are still in Portuguese but will be subtitled in the very near future so stay tuned!