By Sara Stogner, Reel Grrls
Reel Grrls is thrilled to be partnering with LUNAFEST as a beneficiary along with the Breast Cancer Fund. LUNAFEST is wonderful experience for us to be involved in as a festival that celebrates the work of women in film. It is exactly the type of support we like to offer the young women filmmakers in our programs. Reel Grrls provides out-of-school, year-round media programs catered for girls 9 to 19 years old. Through these opportunities, we are placing more and more girls behind and in front of the camera. In the last 10 years, we have served over 1,000 girls from diverse backgrounds. Many of our participants identify as low-income, homeless or in foster care, or belonging to an ethnic minority group. Our intention is to bring these teens from widely different backgrounds together in a common environment to create media in their own voice.
Check this out this clip about us:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuLSv4b8cPc&feature=youtu.be
Reel Grrls is not just a drop-in computer lab. We offer hands-on, project-based learning that teams girls with experienced women filmmakers. From instructional workshops, internships, and professional experience creating content for clients, the participants in our programs experience a wide spectrum of the media industry. Most importantly, the young women filmmakers are creating films about issues crucial to them. Films like “Thoughts in a Hijab,” where Reel Grrls filmmaker Sahar Shakeri tells her personal story of choosing to wear the hijab even after moving to the U.S. from Iran. This is the type of story that is empowered by placing a camera in the hands of a female filmmaker.
Reel Grrls is now growing faster than ever. As we reach more and more girls in the Seattle area, it is amazing to not only see the projects they create, but to see the confidence, leadership, and creative voice that is acquired from being behind and in front of the camera. One participant in the 2011 Summer Apprenticeship program said, “Reel Grrls is an awesome ‘girls only’ club that gives you self esteem about being a lady!” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
To learn more about Reel Grrls and the programs we offer, please visit http://www.reelgrrls.org/programs.
If you would like to help support the next generation of women filmmakers, you can donate to Reel Grrls at http://www.reelgrrls.org/donate.
And finally, join us and Jasyoga at LUNAFEST in Seattle on October 6.
