Documentary

In PS 48's film studio, student worked with Master Arist Geo Wyeth to make music, film, and work on their latest project. Students from teaching artist Elliot Montague's 4th & 5th grade class act as teaching assistance in his 2nd & 3rd grade class as they film, edit, and share!

MediaLab Films Screen at Harlem Stage

13 Feb 2011, 3:32 PM by Elizabeth Rodd, Urban Arts MediaLab

Story by Producers Marlin Almonte and Stephanie Fleming
 
On December 9 we screened Ghetto Talks and Type Cast for two groups of audiences at the Harlem Stage Youth Speak: Breaking Stereotypes & Reshaping Identity series. After each screening we had a Q&A session with the audience members. They had a lot of questions, and we answered them all. 
 
 
 
MARLIN ALMONTE: It was the first time I had ever led a Q&A, just the audience and me.  “What new knowledge or content did you learn as you worked on Ghetto Talks and how has it changed your life?” one person asked.  I was thrilled with this question because I actually learned so much working on the documentary; this new knowledge impacts me every day.  Not only do I know the history behind the word ghetto but I also know other people's perspectives.  I'm much more open-minded now. I became more aware of all the different nuances of the word. 
 
Seeing the enthusiasm of the Harlem Stage audience gave me a feeling of accomplishment. I felt proud of all the hard work my team put into making Ghetto Talks.
 
 
STEPHANIE FLEMING: After screening Type Cast, I asked our audience if anyone was affected by diabetes, and I was surprised by how many people raised their hands.  That right there showed me that anyone of any age, any race or any color can be affected by this epidemic. 
 
The audience members had some really good questions, too.  One person wanted to know if either of the two personal narratives in Type Cast had affected me in any way. My answer may have shocked many people.  I told them that I was deeply affected by Tiffany's story about losing her father to Type II diabetes because my mom’s boyfriend has Type II.    
 
I thought the Type Cast screening at Harlem Stage was cool because when I watched the film on the big screen I realized just how much my camera work has grown since joining MediaLab.  I also liked the audience's questions because they helped me realize that people really do care about the film’s message.
 
Overall, the audience seemed engaged in both of our films.  Many students came to us afterwards to ask about Urban Arts. They seemed really interested in the work that we do.
 
If you are a public school student interested in joining the MediaLab program, write to medialab@urbanarts.org to request an application.  Admissions are rolling.
 
And stay tuned for the online release of Ghetto Talks!!!

 

 

 

Story by Daniel Familia
Photographed by Joshua Davis

 

 
PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN -- In the neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn there is an organic food shop called the Park Slope Food Co-op. This is a heaven for people who search for organic food.  From bright leafy greens to smelly cheese, they have it all.  It is a busy place: many people walk through of all shapes, colors and sizes.
 
 
To shop at the Park Slope Food Co-op you need to be a member. It's a great way to bring fresh, organic, non-genetically engineered and locally-grown products to the community.  At a point when diabetes rates are high in communities of color, which are often disenfranchised, it is alternatives like this that introduce communities to healthier ways of living.
 
 
The problem is that Park Slope is not a disenfranchised community. It is actually one of Brooklyn's wealthiest neighborhoods. According to the Points2Homes website, the average yearly household income in Park Slope is $90,450 as compared to $33,418 in West Farms, The Bronx, which is where I live.  What's more, Park Slope residents spend 124% of the national average on food versus the 69% of the national average that West Farms residents, like me, spend.
 
I often wonder why it is that in my community there are three shops within a four block radius that have glazed donuts and high-sugar drinks.  There are no organic or fresh fruits and vegetables shops there.  No wonder diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity rates are higher in communities like mine. If there were more alternatives like the Park Slope Food Co-op in our disenfranchised communities, we might be more aware of healthy food alternatives.
 
 
 
We hope the Type Cast Response Project will help bring awareness to this issue, and I personally hope that more farmers’ markets will be introduced to my community.
 

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MediaLab Alum Daniel Familia Screens Ghetto Talks for His College Classmates

27 Dec 2010, 4:36 PM by Elizabeth Rodd, Urban Arts MediaLab

 

Story by Producer Daniel Familia

 

In the Fall of 2010, I screened Ghetto Talks in my English class at LaGuardia Community College.  The idea of screening the film was born from a class discussion about what it means to be a Latino in America and what it means to be a Latino in New York City.  Big urban cities such as New York are known to be the home of many people of color; these people can be seen as “ghetto."

 

My English class is part of a cluster of classes that revolve around the theme of Latino and Latin American studies.  When discussing what it means to be a Latino in New York City many said being poor and living in the ghetto--communities in places like The Bronx, Brooklyn, and El Barrio (The Village), which used to be home to the majority of the city's Puerto Rican communities.  Due to gentrification these communities were forced to move to more disenfranchised areas far away from the city, causing them to be seen as poor or "ghetto." 

 

Many of my classmates initially reacted in a negative manner to the film, thinking it was saying that such stereotypes are true.  In the end, however, they saw the change that the word has undergone throughout history and they managed to identify with the film's message.

 

In my opinion, Ghetto Talks is about showing the power of language and how the word “ghetto” has an impact on everyone regardless of race, class or gender.  Ghetto Talks shows how much history there is within this word.  It has been used to categorize people, to name places where people were forced to live, and to describe people who are disenfranchised and placed in certain areas in urban cities.

 

At one point, for example, Cora Daniels, author of Ghetto Nation, describes how Paris Hilton uses the word "ghetto" in her reality television show to describe a broken-down truck.  Cora points out that she is not complimenting the truck; she is saying that the truck is worthless.  Her interpretation pushed my peers to think about what the word meant to them, and they all agreed that on a certain level the word “ghetto” does not have a positive meaning.

 

Another point that got my peers interested was when cameraman Shamrod Lockwood said that he sees the word “ghetto” as a form of pride, one that points to a sense of survival.  My classmates all nodded their heads.  Looking at them, I realized that their interpretation must fall somewhere in between.  They acknowledged that the word could be seen from different perspectives, but it did not affect their point of view overall.

 

As a filmmaker, I did not intend to change my classmates' point of view, but I wanted them to see other ways of thinking, how throughout history the word has impacted different groups of people in different places--from Jews in Europe, to African-Americans in the projects, to Latinos and minorities in underserved areas like The Bronx and Brooklyn.

 

I believe it is my personal responsibility to reclaim the word and share my opinion with others. Screening Ghetto Talks made me feel influential and empowered.  I am showing people that words have meaning, but words can only mean what we agree upon as a society.  If, to a vast majority, "ghetto" is a negative word, meaning "underserved" or "failure," then this is what the word "ghetto" will come to mean for all of us.

 

Ghetto Talks has completed it's run on the film festival circuit, so the MediaLab crew is pleased to release our film online.  Check it out here>

 

Story by Robert Matos

Viandra McCarthy, representing Kurt Hahn's The Violence Movie, and Robert Matos, representing MediaLab's Type Cast

 

On Saturday, December 4, the afternoon session of the Urban Arts MediaLab team received guests who were students and also filmmakers from the Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School in Brooklyn.

The Kurt Hahn students gave us a preview of a rough cut of their film The Violence Movie, which showed acts of direct and indirect violence both in and out of school. The students featured in the film performed skits and shared personal stories of their encounters with violent situations.
 

Kurt Hahn students lead The Violence Movie Q and A session.

 

After the screening we had a Q and A session with the Kurt Hahn students in which we were asked to give feedback. I recommended that they be careful about possible copyright infringements when using archival film clips and that they think about whether they want to present a radical point of view or be more objective.  Other than those two comments I can see their film being very successful and popular with the public.

 

Then we turned the tables . . .


 

The MediaLab crew leads a discussion of Type Cast.  Yep, that's Viandra McCarthy again... She worked on both films!

 

After The Violence Movie Q and A session the MediaLab crew presented our film Type Cast, which deals with the diabetes epidemic in the adolescent community.  We received useful feedback from the Kurt Hahn in-school crew: they felt a strong connection with our main subjects, Josh and Tiffany, but recommended that we use our audio in a stronger way so that the audience feels like the audio is a character in the film.

 


Teaching Artist Vee Bravo has some thoughts about audio.

 

In the end, the MediaLab crew learned something from the Kurt Hahn film crew and they learned a few skills from our side, based on our experiences inside the industry.

Keep checking back over the holidays. . . . There's always news from the MediaLab crew!

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