How I See It: Youth Digital Filmmakers
“My Spaces: Homeless Youth Explore the Geography of Disconnection”
Sponsor: Covenant House California
Los Angeles
Project Director and Workshop Leader: Jan Pfeiffer
Humanities Scholar: Vanessa Schwartz, University of Southern California
Formerly homeless youths will create a documentary tracing their connections and disconnections to the various spaces they inhabited while homeless.
“Homelessness is one of the most extreme forms of disconnection an individual can face, yet it is underreported by traditional media,” said Project Director Jan Pfeiffer. “We hope that the documentary will raise awareness of the issue, particularly as it relates to young people.”
The participants will be drawn from Digital Dove, a program at Covenant House that serves homeless and at-risk youth between the ages of 18 and 24. Project Director Pfeiffer has overseen the program since its inception in 2004. For this project the participants will create first-person narratives of what it is like for a young person to live on the streets. The final film will consist of a mosaic of these stories. “Ultimately, we envision that the youth filmmakers will provide a vivid and varied portrait of California," Project Director Jan Pfeiffer said.