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Students from SUNY Fredonia and the country of Turkey will hold screenings of various films this week at three locations in Western New York. The films, created by high school and college-aged Turkish students, have been made as part of an 18-month Youth Filmmaking Project which has been underway for a year.
The project, resulting from an $800,000 U.S. Department of State grant, has allowed 72 students from six Turkish cities to learn about strategies and tactics of video and filmmaking, as they express their views on important social issues. The grant ranks among the largest Fredonia has ever received for a project of this duration.
The student films focus on such issues as democracy, human rights, and economic development. They have been made under the direction of SUNY Fredonia’s Department of Communication, led by Chair Ted Schwalbe and associate professor and Turkish native Nefin Dinc.
Eighteen students began the semester on campus for the last phase of their work: using Fredonia’s state-of-the-art computer labs for final editing and production. They have received assistance from and have collaborated with numerous Fredonia students during their stay.
The first of the screenings will take place on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Reg Lenna Theatre on the main campus of Jamestown Community College. On Sept. 3, the students will travel to the University at Buffalo for a 5 p.m. screening in Clemens Hall on UB's North campus. Lastly, the northern Chautauqua community will have the opportunity to see the fruits of their work with the final local screening on Sept. 4 at 5 p.m. in 101 Jewett Hall on the SUNY Fredonia campus.
The visiting students will return to their home country on Sept. 9. Additional screenings will take place in New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C. later this year. Then, in January 2010, all 72 of the Turkish students involved in the project will gather in Ankara, Turkey, for a film festival to show their full works.
