On Saturday March 8th, my middle school students visited Fort Gondo for a screening of the film, viewing of the art, and an art related workshop. After looking at the art, students asked questions about the artwork, my process, and the space. Galen Gondolfi, owner, spoke about the purpose of Fort Gondo. They were amazed that so much artwork had been created for a film and had plenty of questions about the symbolism of the images on the wall. I gave them a brief introduction to the story of the film and why I had decided to make the film, sharing with the 8th graders that I'd started making the film when I first met them in 5th grade! After the short introduction, I screened the film for them.
At the conclusion of the film, I was thrilled to receive an enthusiastic round of applause and cheering from the students (actually even screaming). Thus began an hour long discussion about the making of the film, the story behind the film, and then connections to their daily life. Student, parents, and grandparents, took turns sharing the floor and our conversation covered topics such as ending racism, disappeared neighborhoods, bullying, the individual response to hardship and adversity, leadership, and even connections to the book "To Kill a Mockingbird". I finally had to call the conversation to an end so that we could eat lunch.
After lunch I talked about some of the guidelines I gave myself when making collages to animate in the film. Then I invited students to make collages inspired by the film our or conversation. In the spirit of reuse, I threw in ephemeral bits from the animation that they might be able to incorporate into their own art.
We occupied the space and filled it with energy, conversation, and art-making. As the event ended, several parents commented how much they enjoyed the field trip and that they hoped I would continue to share the film with other schools. I felt a closeness to the families and students and at my school that I had not felt previously. Their willingness to have an open honest dialogue about the issues in the film gave me a lot of courage as I went into the evening screening.
At the conclusion of the film, I was thrilled to receive an enthusiastic round of applause and cheering from the students (actually even screaming). Thus began an hour long discussion about the making of the film, the story behind the film, and then connections to their daily life. Student, parents, and grandparents, took turns sharing the floor and our conversation covered topics such as ending racism, disappeared neighborhoods, bullying, the individual response to hardship and adversity, leadership, and even connections to the book "To Kill a Mockingbird". I finally had to call the conversation to an end so that we could eat lunch.
After lunch I talked about some of the guidelines I gave myself when making collages to animate in the film. Then I invited students to make collages inspired by the film our or conversation. In the spirit of reuse, I threw in ephemeral bits from the animation that they might be able to incorporate into their own art.
We occupied the space and filled it with energy, conversation, and art-making. As the event ended, several parents commented how much they enjoyed the field trip and that they hoped I would continue to share the film with other schools. I felt a closeness to the families and students and at my school that I had not felt previously. Their willingness to have an open honest dialogue about the issues in the film gave me a lot of courage as I went into the evening screening.
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