STORIES THAT DRIVE CHANGE

Reg. 1 Films Examine Rights

It’s a story of incredible significance, an object of study and reverence for over two centuries. It’s the supreme law of our nation, the handwritten essence of America distilled onto weathered parchment. The United States Constitution and its 27 amendments lay the grounds for our freedoms, our responsibilities and our guaranteed protections as citizens of the United States.

The Constitution’s importance is impressed upon American children from a very early age; elementary schoolers memorize its bold, declarative first words “We the people …” as a matter of patriotism. Middle schoolers, to their parents’ dismay, learn of the right to free speech. Yet by high school, awareness of current events and media exposure often lead to jaded disillusionment or apathy.

In May, student filmmakers at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village will strike a blow against teenage political ennui. “The Constitution in our Midst,” a student-produced documentary film project in collaboration with Global Village Media and the Connecticut Project for the Constitution, will screen two student films at the Salisbury Forum and the Westport Film Festival. These documentaries will delve into constitutional issues through the lens of student rights. The films focus on contemporary local controversies that speak to greater issues of rights to free speech, freedom of the press, and other freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

One film focuses on the speech rights implicated in the recent case raised by Avery Doninger, a Connecticut high school senior, who was prevented from participating in student government after she made public remarks criticizing her school’s administrators on her blog.

The other film investigates the controversial decision made by some school districts, including the Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s Region 1, to not air an address made by President Obama last September to the nation’s school children.

The films will be screened publicly at the Salisbury Forum May 14 and at the Westport Youth Film Festival May 7. At both screenings, the filmmakers will be present to field questions and engage the audience in a lively, town-hall style discussion of the issues presented.

By delving into applicable local issues, both documentaries aim to re-engage students in the important arenas of political awareness and citizenship. By visually demonstrating how the Constitution interacts with the students’ local communities, these films are intended to spark public discourse between the student filmmakers and their audiences. Communication and exchange of ideas in a public context are crucial to the success of a participatory democracy. And by directly engaging in the work of public discussion, these filmmakers are practicing what they preach.

For professional film producers Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur of Global Village Media, actual engagement with the constitutional issues presented by the films is crucial.

“The project, “The Constitution in Our Midst,” is part of The Civic Life Project that we’ve started at Global Village Media,” said Mr. Lasseur. “We’ve joined forces with [The Connecticut Project for the Constitution] to promote a greater understanding of the Constitution and our democracy.”

“We tested the project in a private school model first, at the Hotchkiss School [in Lakeville],” he said. “We’ve mainly been investigating the Bill of Rights, as it works very well suited for classroom instruction. Film-wise, the bill also lends itself to short film production and narrative. It’s not so easy to do the separation of powers in that format,” he laughed.

“The two films at Housatonic Valley Regional implicate freedom of speech issues for students,” said Mr. Lasseur. “By investigating freedom of speech inside and outside of school, the students realized that they don’t always have a voice, and that they can do something constructive about it.”

“It’s very interesting,” said Ms. Tatge, explaining the widespread political disillusionment and disengagement among high school students. “Young people today really feel voiceless.”

The films produced by the Housatonic Regional Valley High School students represent the culmination of five years of effort on the parts of Ms. Tatge and Mr. Lasseur, who originally sought to produce a public series on democracy. When funding and the political climate were not amenable to such an ambitious production, Global Village Media reached out to students in an attempt to involve them in the exploration of democracy through film. “Film is their medium. It’s their language,” explained Ms. Tatge.

According to Ms. Tatge, the project has been a tremendous success. “We began the project with a very broad cross-section of the student population. We have seen some students truly blossom through the process of filmmaking. All of them have been developing the crucial skills of inquiry, research and writing. It’s been phenomenal.”

In an era of extreme political polarization, Ms. Tatge and Mr. Lasseur faced no small challenge in developing a political awareness program that would transcend party politics. “In our groups, we had some very staunch Republicans and some very staunch Democrats,” Ms. Tatge said. “We had students at every point on the political spectrum.”

“We served as mentors,” Ms. Tatge said. “We would question the students’ questions. We wanted them to approach this with truly open minds and leave their preconceived notions behind. In the course of grappling with these questions, the students began revisiting their positions and listening to the other side.”

The film project embraces the openness that Ms. Tatge and Mr. Lasseur urged the students to adopt. “It’s ultimately about compromise,” Ms. Tatge said. “Polarization is the worst thing for our political system, and for students. Our students really put aside their personal feelings as much as possible, and made an effort to represent both sides.”

Ms. Tatge and Mr. Lasseur view this project as the beginning of a greater endeavor to combat civic disengagement, and have funded it largely out-of-pocket. “Unfortunately, projects like this cost money and time and energy. We’re looking for financial support. We’re looking for feedback. We’re looking for ideas.”

Most of all, Ms. Tatge and Mr. Lasseur are looking for involvement. “We would love to talk with people about it,” said Ms. Tatge. “We want to take this project beyond the classroom and into the community.”

“We’ve been hugely involved with the project,” said Mr. Lasseur. “We would love to continue the project and find ways to sustain it.”

“There’s no political agenda,” she said. “Let’s take a look at our system. Let’s learn how to compromise and cooperate.”

For more information on “The Constitution in our Midst,” contact the Salisbury Forum by emailing it at info@salisburyforum.org, or visit the Web site at www.salisburyforum.org. For more information on the Westport Youth Film Festival and scheduling, visit www.westportyouthfilmfest.org.

Mr. Lasseur and Ms. Tatge are internationally recognized public film producers. Their documentary work with PBS and other networks has spanned questions and issues across the disciplines. For more information on them and Global Village Media, visit www.globalvillagemedia.org.