California Story Fund
Perspectives on the American Dream:
Views From Immigrant and Refugee Teens
in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region
Media Arts Center San Diego
Project Director: Ethan van Thillo
Youth to create short video documentary on their view of the American Dream
Participants in the Media Arts Center’s Teen Producers Project, an after-school media arts education program for immigrant and refugee teens in the San Diego area, will create a short documentary comparing their understanding of the American Dream with the images and messages they receive about what it means to be hip and American.
“These stories are especially relevant in Southern California, where the migrant and refugee experience exist side by side with the affluence exhibited by the media, Hollywood, Orange County and in San Diego’s tourism ‘paradise,’” said Project Director Ethan van Thillo, executive director of the Media Arts Center.
“Immigrant and refugee youth have little opportunity to share their experiences of transience, disillusionment, excitement and adventure stemming from their experiences living in this new culture,” added van Thillo. “This project enables youth to speak about what they see and feel, while making it possible for them to connect to others who may be different from them culturally but may be experiencing similar feelings.”
Participants will interview their parents and other adult family members about their experience with the American Dream as part of a 15-week media literacy and video production training session.
The video will be screened at several venues, including the local branch library and at California State University, San Marcos, as part of a course on video in the community.