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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
October 7, 2007
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| August 9, 2007 |
A new generation of alternative media: PRO-TV report from the Peace Boat |
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| Megan Rosado (left) and Stephanie Adams have the cameras turned on them by Peace Boat’s own media team |
“Film is a great way of spreading your message. You have such a broad audience. Who doesn’t watch movies, right?”. This is the shared belief of New Yorkers Stephanie Adams, 19 and Megan Rosado, 17 who came to join the Peace Boat in the UK. They should know. Although both are still teenagers, Megan is currently working on her third film documentary, while Stephanie has completed over 12, one of which won Best Documentary at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival last year. As the ship made its way across the Atlantic, the friendly pair came aboard to learn about peace activism and make their latest documentary on nuclear issues and disarmament. |
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| The filmmakers learnt their skills at the Downtown Community Television center in New York |
The duo are part of PRO-TV, a youth programme by run by Manhattan based DCTV, or Downtown Community Television. For nearly 30 years, the initiative has been giving disadvantaged, inner-city youth the documentary-making skills to explore the social issues they care most about. With over 100 students, it provides each a way to channel their energies into something creative as well as giving them a voice in a world of media dominated by big television networks. And if they want to get that voice heard, they know they have to fight fire with fire. “People watch television – they’re used to that media” says Stephanie, “but we can use it to educate people about complex issues”. |
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| Participants add their own peace messages to the documentary film |
Their documentary aims to do just that. Inspired by the work of Peace Boat, Megan and Stephanie want to educate more young people in the US about the threat of nuclear weapons – “a problem that affects the world as one,” they say. “Youth in America don’t know much about nuclear issues,” notes Megan. “In school, we’re not really told about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for example,” agrees Stephanie. By recording the testimonies of atomic bomb survivors, filming Peace Boat’s protests against the UK’s nuclear warheads and learning about these issues while on the ship, they hope to change that. During the onboard Peace Week, the film-makers also gave participants the chance to record their very own ‘Message for Peace’ on camera, to be used in the documentary. |
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| There was also chance to find out more about Megan’s and Stephanie’s backgrounds and youthful perspective |
As well as learning from the ship, the two had much to offer in return. Drawing on their diverse backgrounds, they presented a revealing workshop on the multiculturalism of New York – quite a contrast to the largely homogeneous society of the Japanese participants. Many were also interested by their adolescent outlook on the nuclear issues facing their generation, which is something they hope will come through in their film. “I think people are interested in the perspective of youth,” declares Megan. “We hear adult views everyday – this is a fresher view. That’s what everyone’s looking for and that’s what we can do.”
Watch out for the film and find out more about DCTV at:
www.dctvny.org |
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