“The Reel Lives Project is about understanding the truth through a new lens. It’s enabled young people to distance themselves from their everyday realities enough to realize they have choices, and that against all obstacles and challenges, love wins.”
-- Tavis Smiley, philanthropist, political commentator, and talk show host
Reel Lives - Altadena
Reel Lives pairs high school students with graduate film mentors at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts to create personal documentaries about important events, issues, and people in their lives. Launching in Altadena, California, the documentary program enables participants to discover a new form of self-expression, ultimately building their self-esteem and critical thinking about their lives and the world around them.
Camp, Production and Community Screening Program
Remedee brings Reel Lives participants to film camp in Lake Arrowhead, California. Each youth is completely immersed in documentary filmmaking in an idyllic setting. Under the guidance of film industry professionals, students learn to shoot video through courses that cover such topics as camera mechanics, composition, movement and lighting, using the woods as their backdrop. Students complete sound workshops and learned to edit their footage using professional equipment. They learn interview techniques enabling them to conduct investigative on-camera interviews. The holistic retreat also includes swimming, healthful organic meals, meditation, and outdoor film screenings.
The camp and production period stimulates participants' interest in media and art, as well as provides an outlet for creative expression. The students adapt to new technologies and information at a very rapid pace. They explore their personal and community struggles, such as gang violence, cultural integration and poverty. With pride, the young filmmakers edit together their footage from the camp to immediately see the results of their hard work.
The culminating event for the Reel Lives program, as with all other programs, is a community wide film screening. For our pilot program in Altadena, the films screened at AFI with hosts Tavis Smiley and Cornel West. “The Reel Lives Project is about understanding the truth through a new lens,” Smiley told the audience of students, their families and community members. “It’s enabled young people to distance themselves from their everyday realities enough to realize they have choices, and that against all obstacles and challenges, love wins.”
READ ABOUT OUR ALTADENA PARTICIPANTS
