Jewish & Latino Teens Team Up to Create Videos for Film Festival

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. - Jan. 12, 2015 - PRLog -- “Several years ago I read an article about a girl who heard a holocaust survivor speak at her school.  His experience touched her profoundly and she went up and spoke with him after the talk. The reason his story resonated with her was because she was a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda-- something she did not share with anyone, because she felt people could not begin to understand her experience.

“She ended up forming a very close bond with this older Jewish man (she became close with his family as well) and they also did speaking tours together. Although it was something terrible that brought them to each other, I love the image of a young Rwandan girl and this old Jewish man and the friendship they shared and the bonds they forged,” related Laura Kramer, project director of a “Through a Clear Lens.”

The “Through a Clear Lens” project, formulated by the JCC on the Hudson, will team up Jewish and Latino teens to develop 7-10 minute films that will look at their respective cultures, similarities and differences, in an effort to break down barriers.  The films will be showcased as a film festival in March or April.

This is a wonderful opportunity to build a bridge between our local Jewish and Latino communities, through filmmaking collaboration.

“I think this project will clear up some of the stereotypes that both of these cultures have,” said Sleepy Hollow H.S. senior Alexandra Torres, who expects the process to “be very interesting and fun.”

The work will take place afterschool at Sleepy Hollow HS.  So far, participating students are from the school’s Latin American Student Association and from the Jewish Culture Club (newly formed as a result of this project).

Additional recruiting is taking place through the Rivertowns Jewish Consortium (the JCC and five local Jewish congregations).   Anyone interested in joining or helping “Through a Clear Lens,” should contact mindy.cohen@jcconthehudson.org.

This is a great community service or college application project, but more than that, it’s an opportunity to learn movie-making and to make an important statement.

“I believe in the power of sharing stories as a way to discover all that we have in common, and as a way in which we can begin to eradicate assumptions and replace ignorance with true human experience,” said Ms. Kramer. “ The insight and knowledge participants will hopefully gain through this project will help them be better citizens of the planet, along with becoming artistic storytellers!”

“Through a Clear Lens,” is made possible by a UJA-Federation of NY Community Connections grant, and is a joint project of the JCC on the Hudson and the Union Free School District of Tarrytown.