A CAROLINE Springs film-making program has given a group of young people a chance to make positive changes to their lives.
Nine teenagers, all of whom have faced issues at home or school, took part in the week-long program which culminated with a community film and awards night at Lakeview College auditorium on April 15.
The program was run by performing arts group Compass Arts Downunder in partnership with international youth training group Inside Out Global, Melton Council and Victoria Police.
The teenagers, all from schools in Caroline Springs, were split up into groups to create two six-minute films. They took part in workshops on acting, storytelling and writing, camera operation, sound and lighting production. They developed their own company names and logos, and designed a poster to promote their movies.
Inside Out Global president Mary-Beth Fussner said the program, which has been successful in New Zealand and the US, was aimed at empowering young people to tell their stories and discover their strengths through film-making and creative arts.
Students have created films on topics as diverse as suicide, alcoholism, resolving family conflict and breaking the cycle of sexual abuse.
Ms Fussner said the teenagers showed strong leaderships skills, and she hopes the program helped to improve their confidence levels. “We do a strengths assessment before they start the workshops and do strength coaching during and after the event. Most of these students are not going to get into the film industry from this, but we wanted to give them tools to move forward in their lives in a positive way and contribute to the community.
“Students tell us they begin to look at life through a different perspective after they go through the course.”
One of the students who took part, Gaby Sabeh, 17, said it allowed her to demonstrate her leadership qualities.
“I’m very grateful to be involved in the program and it gave me a lot of confidence to follow my dreams,” she said.
“We all have different areas we are good at so it was great to put that together and work as a team. I’ve learned that I’m a hard worker and I can encourage others to achieve their goals.”
The program runs again in July. Details: 0449 115 025.
