Film program gives teens direction (fwd)

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Film program gives teens direction

By Marc Ramirez
Seattle Times staff reporter
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002274824_native14.html

Nick Clark, a freshman at La Conner High in Skagit County, thought this
video-project thing sounded like a lot of fun: He'd get to meet some
Native American actors, learn a few ways to use a camera. Maybe even
act a little bit himself.

A year later, along with Martin Edwards and David Aleck, fellow
15-year-old members of the Swinomish Tribe, Nick has acted in and
helped direct what one adviser describes as "a poetic, coming-of-age"
film about three street kids stealing to survive, and their choices in
life. He's also possibly avoided life on the streets himself.

Says Nick: "I just want [people] to watch it and tell me what they
think."

This weekend is his chance, as more than 40 youths from five Washington
tribes gather for a workshop marking the one-year anniversary of Native
Lens, 911 Media Arts Center's film program for Native American
teenagers. The program's mission: Let Native American teens tell their
own stories through film.

A much-need alternative

For Nick, who has struggled with drug and alcohol use, his participation
in the six-month-long Native Lens Film Institute has been a source of
motivation.
"If I wasn't involved in this, I'd probably be out doing drugs with all
my user friends," he said. "When I go down there [to 911], I'm away
from them."

Now, he says, he enjoys directing, shaping a piece from start to end,
layering it with music. "I learned different effects you could use on
the camera," he said. "And the rule of thirds, like certain spots where
the camera has to be."

"Native Lens has really been a positive thing for him," said Frank Dunn,
Swinomish tribal-communications director. "I've really seen him grow and
mature."

The program has provided a much-needed alternative to boredom and has
given students like Theresa Jimmy, 17, and Nolita Bob, 15, who produced
a documentary about cultural ties, the confidence to interview elders.

"It's a lot more fun to do this instead of sitting around at home," said
Theresa, a junior at La Conner High.

"We had to pull them along in the beginning," said 911's Annie
Silverstein, Native Lens program director. "But by the end, they were
pulling us."

A film in two days

This weekend's new recruits are learning to create short films in just
two days. Their finished products will screen tonight, concluding the
weekend.
The kids, representing the Swinomish, Colville, Tulalip, Suquamish and
Lummi tribes, were also slated to hear from writer/filmmaker Sherman
Alexie and attend a panel discussion featuring actors Elaine Miles
("Northern Exposure") and Eddie Spears, among others.

But the highlight is the premiere of five meatier films made through
911's six-month course (six hours, every other weekend), designed to
build on the energy created by last year's inaugural workshop.

Nick Clark and six other novices ages 13 to 16 learned to edit, discuss
film theory and analyze media portrayals of Native Americans.

It wasn't easy at first. Program leaders practically had to go door to
door and roust kids from their homes each morning. They had to build
trust — that they weren't the kind of people who were going to just
stop showing up one day, that all the hard work would pay off. After a
while, the kids were ready to go, despite challenges that would rile
many adults.

"Kids hate pre-production, because it's lame," Silverstein said. Putting
ideas to paper, planning every shot, finding people to make it work on
film — "all of that was really hard," she said.

"They'd go to school all week, and then that's their weekend. They were
choosing to do that. But we started bonding as a group, and it became
evident really quick what the payoff was. Now they're just beside
themselves."

Changing perceptions

Along with the street-kids piece and the cultural-ties documentary,
other finished films include an animated satire imagining Christopher
Columbus time-traveling into the present, a dark-humored "infomercial"
about selling Indian spirituality, and a music-video-style piece about
bullying.
"It's about people's differences," said 13-year-old Anna Cladoosby, the
seventh-grader who made the bullying video. "I've seen a lot of people
pick on each other. Maybe it'll change people's perceptions of other
people."

The Swinomish Tribe is the primary sponsor of this weekend's workshop,
supported by grants from the Potlatch Fund and National Endowment for
the Arts.

"They're really our partner in putting this on," Silverstein said. "They
really feel it. Now we're pulling it off for other tribes — it's like
this complete, full-circle thing."

She sees tribes just beginning to realize the potential of video to
preserve language and culture as elders pass on, as well as their own
ability to pay for such efforts with casino profits.

"The fact that tribes are going to start using this makes a lot of
sense," Silverstein said, and not just for taping community meetings or
delivering health information, but major film projects.

"I really think these tribes, especially with how their resources are
changing, will have the opportunity to create their own films more than
any other community. It's not, learn all this so you can work in
Hollywood — it's, learn all this so you can make films right here in
Washington. It's very empowering."

Marc Ramirez: 206-464-8102 or mramirez at seattletimes.com