New Environmental Filmmakers Workshop
with Carmen Elsa Lopez and Evan Abramson
“Within the child lies the fate of the future.” ― Maria Montessori
The New Environmental Filmmakers Workshop was conceived with the intention of empowering young people to find their inner voice as narrative makers, and embolden their responsibility to Earth and humanity through storytelling. The role of the storyteller as an agent of change is examined in light of the various issues affecting our planet today.
Carmen and Evan accompany students throughout the process of making their own films from start to finish, helping them to conceptualize, research, write, produce, direct, shoot, edit and post-produce. Technical know-how and successful approaches to shooting in the field are balanced with discussions of light, symbolism, arc-making, creating an emotional connection with your audience, use of animation, music, and so on. Students may find inspiration in the Earth's natural environment and/or the varied manifestations of the natural world in our society today (e.g., water, food, energy, animals, consciousness, community). They may work in groups or individually to create a short film of their choosing, be it documentary, fiction, experimental or a combination thereof.
It is our hope and belief that their work will inspire us all to consider new solutions to old problems and in doing so, create a better world.
Partnerships:
Washington Montessori School (Washington, Connecticut)
Since September 2014, we have been teaching environmental filmmaking to 6th, 7th and 8th graders at the school.
The Gunnery (Washington, Connecticut)
As of Spring 2015, we are bringing environmental filmmaking workshops to 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders at the school.
Green Film Network
An international consortium of environmental film festivals from across the globe, the Green Film Network also serves as a resource for collaboration in environmental film programming and for distribution of environmental films to schools and film festivals internationally. This is an opportunity for our students to understand global interconnectedness by having them collaborate with student production teams in other countries, and have their films showcased in festivals around the world.
For more information or to bring Carmen and Evan to your school, contact us here.