AFS Outreach in Romania- Part 1

It was an unlikely proposal. Romanian filmmaker Sergiu Lupse and I would travel to a small village in Transylvania to conduct an intensive collaborative film project workshop over three weeks this summer.

The project included a daily filmmaking workshop for disadvantaged teens focusing on empowering them to create works about their community and views, the creation of a community-based film which would be an experimental narrative framing device for the previously mentioned student films, and a curated screening series of global cinema for anyone who would come. I would carry on the plane most of the gear we’d need, basically a super-streamlined mobile media lab including cameras, microphones and other hardware, and we’d try to rent other tools as needed.

We received an Artslink Project Award (ie. funding) from CEC ArtsLink in New York, and just like that it began…

WEEK ONE (JUNE 1st)
We arrive and meet some of the staff at the Foundation hosting us. They’d signed up ten kids from their community center for the project as we hoped. There are several people (in the community) who express suspicion about us, and wonder how we’ll be able to relate to the students and their situations. We would be “strangers” they said, and community workers spend a lot of time cultivating relationship. Of course, I know there are basic trust bonds that will be necessary for students to fully engage and benefit from this sort of experience. We are grateful to have assigned to us one of their staff to help out on certain days. He apparently knows some of the kids a bit.

Sergiu explains to me that until just a few years ago, the “Roma” (gypsy) kids in our class likely attended segregated schools.

To see and hear the discrimination gypsies face was startling. A number of Romanians I meet aren’t bashful when it comes to sharing their feelings about gypsies. When pressed, several half-heartedly acknowledge the basic belief, “no, I guess not every gypsy is bad,” but fail to see the connection between these blatant generalizations and racism.

MEETING THE KIDS
We visit the community center to meet our students. I had taken a thirty-day crash course (a poor substitute) in Romanian before the trip that apparently the C.I.A. uses. Understandably, I was a bit discouraged to learn that maybe one student in the group spoke a bit of English.

Even with Sergiu translating, his teaching skills, and other assistance, as lead instructor, I realize we needed to dramatically alter how we delivered the curriculum. I quickly devise a plan to rely heavily, in almost all areas, on the visual medium of film itself as a communication tool between instructor and student, such as the use of large storyboards and hands-on demonstrations.

During that initial informal “get to know you” meeting, we attempt to play some board games with the students. Without being able to discuss much, I entertain the kids with some visual hand tricks I learned from a magician when I was eleven. They seem to have fun trying to figure out and duplicate them. Sergiu seems to be connecting well with some kids as they play cards.

The next day, during the first workshop, we screen some short student films with little dialogue, and said they were going to make their own films.

Students reacted in disbelief. Many responded that they’ve never even held a video camera.

We pass out the cameras and dive into the first project. Students are given a list of questions in Romanian and asked to interview each other, learning some basic camera angles and camera functions which I drew on the board and demonstrated. Sergiu translates as needed and helped the students. As well as a first exposure to the cameras, we hoped to learn a bit about each student through the interviews.

An initial response to having the cameras:

Reactions to showing “Dailies” of their interviews:

Despite what we thought was a successful beginning, several students don’t come back on Tuesday. That day, we quickly glean aspects of an old folkloric tale to adapt to modern times as a group project. Students learn on the fly as the project develops. By the end of the day, students had structured, storyboarded, drawn images for the film, and even filmed some initial footage.

By the end of the first week, students had filmed several short class projects/exercises. Several students ask if they could bring their friends… we initially hoped for a small group of ten students, but the group is growing a bit and we can’t refuse. A student from the first day comes back.

From the very beginning, at the end of each class I would stand at the door as students exited and call for the “filmmaker high-five” as students left. As they slapped my hand, I’d praise their efforts for the day, which became a sort of game for them as I moved the “target” (my hand). I saw this as an additional minor, non-verbal way to further build bonds.

COMING SOON: AFS OUTREACH IN ROMANIA Part 2