Project VoiceScape
A partnership with Adobe Youth Voices, PBS and POV to mentor today's best young documentary filmmakers.
About Project VoiceScape
Project VoiceScape encourages middle- and high-school students nationwide to use digital media tools to create compelling stories about issues and concerns important to them. The 15 winning projects are awarded $2,000 each in completion funds, and the students are mentored by award-winning documentary filmmakers. In addition, three finalists have been selected and will be featured on the POV website, PBS Teachers website and Adobe Foundation websites. Project VoiceScape grant recipients were honored at an event in Washington, D.C., in October 2011.
Filmmakers
Alejandra Gama
Goodyear, Ariz.
Right To Be An American - Children of illegal immigrants in Arizona and their struggles.
Angel Gatus
San Diego, Calif.
Musical Warrior - A young boy with cancer inspires others to care through music and friendship.
Damari Lawrence, Lal Thapa, Jyoti Gurung
Oakland, Calif.
The Track - Oakland Youth In Crisis: Young girls on Oakland's street corners: Are they prostitutes or victims?
Drew Morton Goldsmith
Middleton, Wis.
No Pity - Autism disability self-advocates' empowered response to our culture's pity for the disabled.
Emileigh Potter
San Antonio, Texas
The DREAMER - A look at the struggles that Bennie Veliz, the poster child for the DREAM Act, has encountered to fulfill her dream.
Jesus Manuel Villalba
Bronx, N.Y.
Gardens of Justice - New York City's food-justice movement in community gardens.
Julia Levy
Seattle, Wash.
The Fifth Star - Follow Naomi as she explores the story of women receiving the right to vote in Washington State 100 years ago.
Madena Henderson
Troy, N.Y.
The Haves and the Have Nots - The financial struggles of students going to college today.
Matthew Seife
Scarsdale, N.Y.
Little Steps - Follow a baseball league for people with disabilities as the teammates enjoy social interactions and develop life skills.
Imani Peterkin and Mohamed Gardner
Albany, N.Y.
Seeds of Hope - A mother turns tragedy into hope after her son is killed.
Morgan Wilcock
Minneapolis, Minn.
This Gay and Age - The evolving expectations surrounding teen gays and lesbians due to stereotypes and media influences.
Negesti Cantave
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Bed Stuy: Do or Buy? - Gentrification in the historically African-American community of Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn.
Sergio Ricardo Ortiz
Viera, Fla.
Pwning @ Life - Behavior patterns of one person who plays videogames and another who does not.
Trevor Seines
San Diego, Calif.
In Between - This 27-year-old has faced the prospect of being deported ever since being illegally brought into the United States as a baby.
Tyre Brown
San Francisco, Calif.
What Is Jerkin'? - A gang-related turf dance from the '80s is reinvented for positive goals by urban youth.
Mentors
Natalia Almada
POV Film - El General & Al Otro Lado
Mentee - Morgan Wilcock
Natalia Almada is a MacDowell Colony Fellow, a 2008 Guggenheim Fellow, a 2010 USA Artist Fellow and the recipient of the 2009 Sundance Documentary Directing Award for El General (POV 2010). Her work for POV also includes Al Otro Lado (2006) and El Velador (2012).
Yoni Brook
POV Film - Bronx Princess
Mentee - Matthew Seife
Yoni Brook is a director and cinematographer whose film "A Son’s Sacrifice" was named Best Documentary Short by the IDA and Tribeca. He mentors high school students at Reel Works Teen Filmmaking in Brooklyn and co-directed Bronx Princess (POV 2009) with Musa Syeed.
Sharese Bullock-Bailey
POV Film - Off and Running
Mentee - Angel Gatus
Sharese Bullock-Bailey is an educator, producer and consultant who has worked with youth media for the past 10 years. She produced Off and Running (POV 2010), led outreach for "Youth Speak Out on Education" and currently teaches through Teach for America in Brooklyn.
Almudena Carracedo
POV Film - Made in L.A.
Mentee - Alejandra Gama
Almudena Carracedo is director/producer of the Emmy Award-winning Made in L.A. (POV 2007). She is a 2010 U.S. Artists Fellow and recipient of the ESTELA Award from NALIP, and is currently directing a film about stolen children under Franco’s 40-year dictatorship in Spain.
Katy Chevigny
POV Film - Election Day
Mentee - Negesti Cantave
Katy Chevigny is an award-winning filmmaker and co-founder and senior director of Arts Engine. She directed Election Day (POV 2008) and co-directed "Deadline," which won the Thurgood Marshall Journalism Award. She most recently produced "Pushing the Elephant."
Thomas Allen Harris
POV Film - Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela
Mentee - Tyre Brown
Thomas Allen Harris’ is a director/producer whose work for New York public television garnered two Emmy nominations. His Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela (POV 2006) won several awards, as did "É Minha Cara (That's My Face)" and "Vontage — Families of Value."
Jeremy Levine
POV Film - Good Fortune
Mentee - Emileigh Potter
Jeremy Levine is an Emmy-winning director, producer and editor whose work includes Good Fortune (POV 2010; 2011 Emmy Award for Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting, Silverdocs Witness Award, Overseas Press Club Carl Spielvogel Award), "Walking the Line" and "Everything’s Cool." He co-founded the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective.
Marion Lipschutz
POV Film - Live Free or Die & The Education of Shelby Knox
Mentee - Julia Levy
Marion Lipschutz is a producer/director/writer for Incite Pictures and Cine Qua Non. With Rose Rosenblatt, she produced the POV films The Education of Shelby Knox (2005) and Live Free or Die (2000). Other credits include "Fatherhood USA." She and Rosenblatt recently won the Freedom of Expression Award and the Full Frame Women in Leadership Award.
Aaron Matthews
POV Film - A Panther in Africa & My American Girls
Mentee - Drew Morton Goldsmith
Aaron Matthews is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and producer whose credits include the POV films A Panther in Africa (2004) and My American Girls (2001). He has written and produced for Discovery, A&E and National Geographic Channel. His latest project is "Down Town Dream."
Rose Rosenblatt
POV Film - Live Free or Die & The Education of Shelby Knox
Mentee - Julia Levy
Rose Rosenblatt is a producer, director and editor for Incite Pictures and Cine Qua Non. With Marion Lipschutz, she produced The Education of Shelby Knox (POV 2005; award winner at Sundance, SXSW), Live Free or Die (POV 2000) and "Code Blue: New Orleans" for TLC. She and Lipshutz recently won the Freedom of Expression Award and the Full Frame Women in Leadership Award.
Carlos Sandoval
POV Film - Farmingville
Mentee - Trevor Seines
Lawyer and writer Carlos Sandoval co-produced and directed "A Class Apart" (PBS American Experience 2009, Imagen Award) and Farmingville (POV 2004; Sundance Special Jury Prize). His written work has appeared in The New York Times and other notable publications.
Musa Syeed
POV Film - Bronx Princess
Mentee - Imani Peterkin and Mohamed Gardner
Musa Syeed is a filmmaker and writer named one of the "10 to Watch in 2010" by Independent. He is completing his first narrative feature, "Valley of Saints." His previous credits include Bronx Princess (POV 2009) and the IDA and Tribeca award-winning "A Son’s Sacrifice."
Jennifer Maytorena Taylor
POV Film - New Muslim Cool
Mentee - Damari Lawrence, Lal Thapa and Jyoti Gurung
Jennifer Maytorena Taylor directed the award-winning New Muslim Cool (POV 2009). Other credits include "Special Circumstances," "Paulina" and the Emmy-winning "Home Front." She is currently a research fellow at the USC’s Annenberg School while making "On the Block."
Angela Tucker
POV Film - Election Day
Mentee - Madena Henderson
Filmmaker/writer Angela Tucker produced the Emmy-nominated "Pushing The Elephant," as well as "Deadline," Election Day (POV 2008) and "Beyond The Steps: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater." She directed two pieces for the NBPC-ITVS initiative The Masculinity Project.
Juan Carlos Zaldivar
POV Film - 90 Miles
Mentee - Sergio Ricardo Ortiz
Emmy-nominated sound editor/designer Juan Carlos Zaldívar’s directing credits include 90 Miles (POV 2003), "Palingenesis" and "Soldiers Pay." Co-founder of Miami International Film Festival’s "Cutting the Edge," he is a Sundance Film Institute Fellow and NALIP board member.
Best Documentary Award Jury
Maria Finitzo
Maria Finitzo is a two-time Peabody award winning social-issue documentary filmmaker. Read Maria Finitzo's bio
Bernardo Ruiz
Bernardo Ruiz is the director/producer of "American Experience: Roberto Clemente" (PBS, 2008), winner of the ALMA Award for Outstanding Made for Television Documentary, and also co-producer of the POV documentary, The Sixth Section. Read more about Bernardo Ruiz at quietpictures.com
Award winners
Morgan Wilcock
Best Documentary
This Gay and Age - The evolving expectations surrounding teen gays and lesbians due to stereotypes and media influences.
Emileigh Potter
Most Inspiring Documentary
The DREAMER - A look at the struggles that Bennie Veliz, the poster child for the DREAM Act, has encountered to fulfill her dream.
Angel Gatus
Audience Award
Musical Warrior - A young boy with cancer inspires others to care through music and friendship.
Local Partners
BAYCAT
Filmmaker - Tyre Brown
BAYCAT is a non-profit community media producer that educates, empowers and employs underserved youth and adults in the digital media arts. By bridging the digital divide, BAYCAT inspires students to stay in school and become lifelong learners, and to use the power of digital media and design to shape their communities and tell their unique stories.
Global Action Project
Filmmaker - Jesus Manuel Villalba
Global Action Project's mission is to work with young people most affected by injustice to build the knowledge, tools, and relationships needed to create media for community power, cultural expression, and political change.
Media Arts Center San Diego
Filmmaker - Trevor Seines
Media Arts Center San Diego promotes access to film and video as tools for community self-expression and social change and supports the professional development of media artists.
Media Enterprise Alliance (MEA)
Filmmakers - Damari Lawrence, Lal Thapa & Jyoti Gurung
Enterprise Alliance (MEA) provides high school students in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) with the opportunity to study media arts with a focus on video production.
Reel Grrls
Filmmaker - Julia Levy
Reel Grrls empowers young women from diverse communities to realize their power, talent and influence through media production. Our mission is to cultivate voice and leadership in girls at a vulnerable age in their development.
Reel Works
Filmmaker - Negesti Cantave
Reel Works provides a free filmmaking program continuum for NYC teens. Using a unique one-on-one mentoring model, we challenge at-risk youth to tell their stories and have their voices heard. In turn, they build vital skills of literacy, leadership and self-confidence to create productive futures.
San Diego Asian Film Foundation
Filmmaker - Angel Gatus
To Connect Audiences to the Human Experience through the Pan Asian Media Arts. Our Vision is that this leads to a more compassionate and cultured society.
Say Si
Filmmaker - Emileigh Potter
Serving San Antonio's youth, SAY Sí is a year round, long-term, non-profit multidisciplinary arts program that provides students opportunities to develop artistic and social skills in preparation for higher educational advancement and professional careers.
The Sanctuary for Independent Media
Filmmaker - Madena Henderson
Youth Media Sanctuary is a community media arts peer-training project, designed to teach multimedia skills to young people, and to help develop urgently needed independent local voices in our economically devastated neighborhood.
Youth FX
Filmmakers - Imani Peterkin & Mohamed Gardner
The mission of Youth FX is to inspire and empower youth through the acquisition of technical and creative skills in the emerging field of digital media. Youth FX encourages young people to shift from being passive consumers of media to active media creators while thoughtfully examining their lives and the world around them.
Pressroom
Release
October 6, 2011
Teen Filmmakers Honored With Project VoiceScape Awards
Best Documentary, Most Inspiring Documentary and Audience Favorite Films Recognized During a Reception at the Newseum in D.C.
June 1, 2011
The PBS and Adobe Foundations Join with POV in Awarding Grants to 15 Documentary Projects by Young Filmmakers
Project VoiceScape Collaboration Provides Funding, Pairs Leading Filmmakers With Emerging Teen Artists Nationwide
Images
Contact
Members of the press can contact:
Cathy Fisher, cfisher@pov.org
POV Communications: 212-989-7425