Northern Local Programs
The Media Arts Training and Mentorship Project was developed to enable northern-based girls and young women to tell their stories, through the provision of a combination of support, training and mentorship. By providing accessibility to media arts training workshops and mentorship from media artists, Girls Action Foundation proposed to empower northern girls and young women to express their views on priority issues of concern to them in their communities and the wider Canadian society. The goal of the project was to support northern girls to use media arts to tell their own stories and express the challenges facing their communities.
In less than a year, four different media arts training sessions were held in Weminji Quebec, Moose Factory Ontario, Whitehorse Yukon and a pan-northern group that comprised of communities across Northern Canada. The participants gained skills, knowledge and experience in media arts as a tool for self-expression and social change.
In all 68 girls and young women participated and nine digital media arts pieces were created as a result of the training and mentorship provided by the project.
Who We Are Collaborating With:
- Weenebeg Aboriginal Film and Video Festival: Moose Factory, Ontario
Lead Artist for the Media Arts Training and Mentorship Project, Sarah DeCarlo, collaborated with three (3) award-winning filmmakers, namely, John Hupfield, Kalani Queypo and Andrew Mclean, in the Moose Factory community. During the Weeneebeg 2009 Aboriginal Film and Video Festival, in February 2009, the media artists worked in conjunction with a group of seven young women from the Delores D. Echum Composite School.
Training and guidance was provided by all four media artists during a 3-day workshop and mentorship was provided to the young women by Sarah DeCarlo. The workshop sessions focused on the development of the acting abilities of the young women and the development of their technical skills.
Through the use of a participant-led approach to training, the young women received guidance from the media artists to identify the subject matter for exploration in their video production activity. They chose youth pop culture and teen anxiety around school attendance. The young women produced two videos: The Guitar Hero and The Math Test. The videos were screened on the final day of the festival.
- Leaping Feats Creative Dance Works and Whitehorse Youth Centre Society: Whitehorse, Yukon
Supporting media artist, Angelune Drouin, provided training, guidance and mentorship to young women in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, in conjunction with the following community partner organizations:
- Leaping Feats Creative Danceworks – a dance studio in downtown Whitehorse that engages youths in the performing arts, with an emphasis on dance and choreography;
- Whitehorse Youth Centre Society – a drop-in centre for youths, where afterschool activities are provided for youths between the ages of 12 and 18 years. These activities include the engagement of the youths in a Film and Video Club.
Twelve sessions, were held over a 3-week period from January 26 to February 15, 2009. In addition, two weekend workshops, were held on January 26-27 and February 14-15, 2009. Young women participated in the training activities, which included:
· Filming and editing;
· Conducting interviews and background research;
· Downloading, cutting and assembling footage;
· Adding transitions;
· Creating music.
As a result of the training they received, the young women chose to explore the topics of dance and bullying and with the support of the supporting media artist, they produced two (2) short video documentaries, Bullying and Just Dance!, as well as a short assembly entitled The Making Of.
- Pan-northern Group: Make Some Noise! – North
Forty-one young women participated in a media arts training program entitled Make Some Noise! - North, over the period July 18-24, 2008 in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The program engaged young women from across Canada, in the age group 15-25 years, in media arts workshops. The focus of the programming was on enhancing the capacity of the young women to use media arts to express their concerns and initiate social change.
Lead Artist, Sarah DeCarlo, worked in conjunction with the supporting artists, Loralie Bromby and Angelune Drouin, and Girls Action Foundation to provide training, guidance and mentorship to the young women participants. The young women created three videos, one of which was filmed in French, while the other two videos were filmed in English. The videos were entitled: Bien dans sa peau, Northern Spirit and Composition of pieces.
