Youth get a hands-on lesson in film-making

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Kids in Isle-a-la-Crosse are getting a chance to step into the world of filmmaking this month when Big Soul Productions brings its popular and successful repREZentin' workshop to the community April 9 to 19.

Participants will learn all the tricks of the trade, including writing, directing and production. Thirty-four youth between the ages of 14 and 30 will take part in the project, organized by Big Soul's Clean is Cool Community Services division.

Big Soul began its repREZentin' program in 2000 as a way to provide Aboriginal youth with media training. In 2002, the workshops resulted in the making of Moccasin Flats, a short film Big Soul filmed in Regina using local youth both in front of and behind the cameras. The film was screened at film festivals across North America to rave reviews, and also aired on the Aboriginal People's Television Network (APTN).

The film was so well received that its creators, Big Soul's Laura Milliken and Jennifer Podemski, decided to continue the story line in a television series. The result, the television version of Moccasin Flats, which airs on APTN and Showcase, is the first dramatic television show in Canada to be created, written, produced and performed by Aboriginal people.

"It's the same thing we did when we made Moccasin Flats in Regina two summers ago," Milliken said of the latest repREZentin' project. "Only we changed the format so that we're not making one half-hour film. We're making actually three short films and getting the kids to actually write and direct and shoot and produce them. (They) do all the work themselves with our help so that they actually learn how to make a film."

A number of mentors will be on site to help participants with their projects. Joining Podemski and Milliken in that role will be writer and director Darrell Dennis, one of the writers for the Moccasin Flats series; actor, singer and songwriter Tamara Podemski; actor and singer Andrea Menard; and Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company artistic director Kennetch Charlette. Other mentors will be lending their expertise in hair, make-up and camera operation.

"A great feature of this program is that we try and choose mentors who don't drink or do drugs," Milliken said. "Jennifer and I completely abstain and encourage everyone else to do so as well.

"I think the youth need to have a very positive faculty working with them. We need to be there for them every moment of every day that we're there."

New to the workshop this year will be Industry Night, a simulated film festival where participants will learn how to network during industry functions.

"We're going to pretend that we're film programmers or other festival programmers or network executives and (the participants are) there to meet us and pitch us their film. It'll be set up just like an industry night at a real festival and (they) will hopefully learn how to network," said Milliken.

She feels programs like repREZentin' have a positive effect on youth in the community, providing them with a creative outlet to express themselves. It also gives them a glimpse of potential career paths they may want to explore. But she also believes that the lessons learned in these workshops extend beyond the principles of film production.

"We teach them a lot of other things. It's not just film-making. It's all about self-esteem and team building and confidence and understanding who everyone else is in your community and working with them. We've had kids who have never spoken to each other before who are really good friends by the end of the shoot.

"It's community building, it's capacity building. And even if we're only there for 10 days, I think that it makes a big difference," she said.

"I think with the state that Aboriginal youth are in now-with the numbers of incarceration, and drug and alcohol abuse and pregnancy and HIV/AIDS and gang violence-all of these things, combined with the rate at which the community is growin for that age group, we need to start doing things," Milliken said.

"Even though, we can only deal with a small group at a time, I think it can have a ripple effect and I think a lot more people need to start taking this into their own hands and creating empowering projects for youth."

For more information about the repREZentin' program, visit the Big Soul Web site at www.bigsoul.net.