Sharing our Life Stories...

Vic Compher will be leading a workshop which includes a screening of the film on Feb. 10 (9:45 am) in Sarasota, FL, for 'The Seventh Annual International Conference on Positive Aging.'

The title of the workshop is 'Sharing our Life Stories and Dialoguing with Youth.'

More info on the conference is at www.institutefortheages.org

NY Intn'l Film & Video Festival

We are excited to announce that the short version of the film was accepted in September for screening at the 2011 New York International Film and Video Festival! The screening will occur in February, 2011 in NYC, and the specific date and location will be provided soon.

Curriculum Development

We are happy to report the successful piloting of the film’s accompanying curriculum with a group of summer interns and new hires at “Mothers in Charge”. These mostly young adults successfully completed a five session “Curriculum Focus Group and Training for Facilitators”. They were an outstanding group who helped us to “test out” the writing exercises, discussion and interactive tasks contained in the curriculum. The pilot project helped these youth leaders to develop their own group skills as they mentor and work with teenagers between the ages of 12-17. They are now equipped to lead groups using both our documentary “I Cannot Be Silent: Testimonies of Peacemaking” and Dorothy Johnson-Speight’s film, “Stop the Violence”.

Participants’ comments about the curriculum and workshops based upon it were very thoughtful, e.g.
“The montage of the film was an eye opener to pain in other countries and Philadelphia…our discussions in small groups showed us just how well feedback from each other worked…”

Another participant in reference to the curriculum and workshops using the films:
“I learned so much…I learned how important it is to really listen to someone especially while they are sharing something personal.”

PD&F Festival

Very happy to announce that "I Cannot Be Silent: Testimonies of Peacemaking" is an official selection of the 2010 Philadelphia Documentary and Fiction Festival!

See listing here.

Summer news

A new draft curriculum for 10th to 12th graders has been written by Laura Richlin and Vic Compher to accompany the film. This draft curriculum is being piloted in two programs this summer: the Arts and Spirituality Centers’ Teen Tech Team video program at Lincoln High School in NE Philadelphia and through Mothers in Charge’s various summer youth programs.

With the latter group, Vic will be orienting young adult staff members of Mothers in Charge within a Training the Trainer series; these youth leaders/ mentors will also serve as a focus group, providing valuable input and feedback on the curriculum. They will facilitate additional focus groups with teenagers, while testing out the curriculum in various academic settings for teens.

The final draft of the curriculum, incorporating the young people’s input, will be available for purchase in the fall of 2010. Note that we are be using within the curriculum an additional 26 minute documentary film, called Stop the Violence, which was produced by Dorothy Johnson-Speight of Mothers in Charge.

A few updates

· Director Vic Compher spent January – May, 2010, in Botswana and shared “I Cannot be Silent” with staff of the Holy Cross Hospice, where he worked as a social work volunteer 2 days/ week. The film was shown in February, 2010 in Lobatse, Botswana, to the staff of the Botswana Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation. In February and March in workshops relative to themes and scenes in the film, he and they also shared their cultural perspectives of trauma, grief and healing. Also in Lobatse he interviewed and filmed in April 2 older adults of historical interest to that country.

· On May 9, 2010, “I Cannot Be Silent” was featured with 3 other films in an annual Mothers’ Day Film Festival at the African-American Museum in Philadelphia, attended by 300 people.

· A curriculum is currently being developed that will accompany the film in high school settings in the fall of 2010. The input of Laura Richlin, former peace coordinator for the High School for Peace and Justice (featured in the film) have been invaluable. We are also collaborating on this project with Dorothy Johnson-Speight, founder of Mothers in Charge (also featured in the film). Jo Viviani of the Moore College of Art has also provided helpful input.

On television

We are excited to announce the broadcast premier of our film as part of Philadelphia Stories 7:

MIND TV (35.1)

Thursday
2/18/10
9 PM

Saturday
2/20/10
9 PM

Sunday
2/21/10
1 PM

globalMIND (35.2)

Friday
2/19/10
8 PM

Saturday
2/20/10
11 PM