Welcome Reel Works Documentary and Narrative Lab!
The first day of class for students in the 2021-2022 Documentary Lab.
On Monday, October 18th, Reel Works welcomed 14 new Documentary Lab students back into our Brooklyn office. The students spent time talking, curious to know more about each other, throwing ideas around the room, learning in community. It’s an old sight that suddenly feels so new.
Instructor Hugo Rojas and Ebony Hatchett explain a fun group interview exercise for the students in the 2021-2022 Doc Lab.
Each student’s story is as diverse as their experience in the world around them. “I applied to this program because I love to see people making videos, and I want to go deeper into it,” wrote Zuihui who hopes to highlight the beauty of Fujianese culture, and one of the oldest dialects in China.
Manal, who identifies as a black female Muslim, wants to highlight the lack of women who look like her in the world of dance, particularly ballet. “My culture plays a big part of my identity as I am Moroccan, Sudanese, and Egyptian. I speak Arabic fluently as it’s my first language and I love dancing. I’m here because I am heavily interested in videography and documenting my memories.”
Additional stories in development include the story of a newborn baby with two moms and two dads, a teen exposing the lack of support for LGBTQ teens in NYC high schools, and the story of food as a way of nurturing our bodies and our sense of joy. These 14 Documentary Lab students are sure to impress us, and they are not alone.
Instructor Anaiis Cisco teaching the Narrative Lab 2021-2022 cohort.
On Wednesday, October 20th, the collective of young filmmakers hoping to write, produce, shoot, and edit their first scripted short film in this year’s Narrative Lab met for the first time. Nylla, 17, sits among them, excited to tell the story of a young woman, fed up with the justice system, going on a quest to find her sister’s killer, as she learns to grapple with her own trauma. “I’m a dreamer. I’ve always been. There’s a projector in my mind, before I go to sleep, that combines all the details of my day to extend the ongoing stories in my head. I am constantly yearning for others to see the images behind my eyes. To see an infinite number of possibilities that words can’t even begin to say.”
15-year-old David shares her sentiment and looks to the road ahead, “to reach my filmmaking goal I must learn the fundamentals of creating one. For me personally I am excited to bring my story to life. I still have a lot to learn”. At the end of his Narrative Lab journey, David hopes to tell the story of a high school boy who gains superpowers and learns the value of serving others when an active shooter enters the halls of his high school.
These imaginative young storytellers echo the voices of a generation hoping to change the stories and in turn the world. Do you see it? We are proud and excited for the launch of the 2021 Documentary and Narrative Labs and celebrate the extraordinary minds of the young filmmakers sitting around the table each week creating and learning together.