Work with what you have, where you are. Be smart, make art!
Coming Soon:
"VISIONS OF HOPE: Moving Images by Teens with a Movie Camera"
Special Exhibition at ArtRage, the Norton Putter Gallery
February 7 - March 21, 2026
Teens with a Movie Camera is a community art project, filmmaking collective, and hands-on collaboration in which teens in the city of Syracuse, New York work together to make movies with local media artists, including film professors and Syracuse University students. Founded in 2024, the workshop focuses on community-building through personal visual storytelling, creating a supportive environment for self-expression through the arts, which culminates in the creation of original short films and their public presentation.
Together, we explore the possibilities of cinematic storytelling, animation, light and shadow, film editing, and creative sound design. We work with tools readily available, such as our smARTphones.
Our ethos comes from the tradition of independent cinema and low-budget filmmaking, which requires creative problem-solving and an embrace of limitations.
Work with what you have,
where you are.
Be smart, make art!
Lights, Camera, Imagination! Faculty Help Turn Teens' Ideas into Film
SU News // July 31, 2025
Teens with a Movie Camera Puts "Community" on the Big Screen
SU Humanities Center // Feb. 3, 2025
For Many Graduate Students, Community-Engaged Scholarship Gives Extra Meaning to the Educational Experience
SU News // April 15, 2024
As organizers of the program, part of our artistic practice & creative research lies in how to share the joy of experimental film / media art with younger generations, invite their participation, and engage with emerging frameworks of a collaborative, community-based mode of filmmaking.
We approach cinema as a personal, imaginative medium that should be accessible to all, rather than an industrial or commercial product. Media production tools are within our reach (i.e., the smartphones in our pockets). With genuine curiosity, an open mind, and a passion for exploration, anyone can go from being passive media consumers to active media creators!
Our goal for the workshop is for participants to see themselves as visual storytellers with their own agency, instilling a sense of confidence in their own voices and visions. We would like to celebrate and highlight the diverse perspectives and creative ideas of youth in our community.
“The most important part of your equipment is yourself: your mobile body, your imaginative mind, and your freedom to use both. Make sure you do use them.”
-Maya Deren, an influential filmmaker who once lived as a refugee in the city of Syracuse
Community Screenings & Events
SOURCE Summer Showcase Presentation (August 7, 2025)
Our Place in Space: Interactive Video Installation, Shaffer Art Building (July 30, 2025)
Engaged Humanities Community Showcase, Community Folk Art Center (May 2, 2025)
Write Out in Chorus, Central New York Philanthropy Center (April 29, 2025)
Community Celebration at Northside Learning Center (April 4, 2025)
Syracuse Symposium: Visions of Community, Watson Auditorium (Feb. 2, 2025)
SOURCE Fall Showcase Presentation (Dec. 6, 2024)
Gordon Parks Community Showcase at SU Art Museum (Dec. 5, 2024)
TeenReel 2.0: Visions of Community at the Everson Museum (Oct. 5, 2024)
Engaged Communities Cohort Presentation (Oct. 4, 2024)
Engaged Humanities Community Showcase Event (May 3, 2024)
SOURCE Spring Showcase Presentation (March 22, 2024)
TeenReel 1.0: Everson Museum Outdoor Screening (March 8, 2024)
TeenReel 1.0: Watson Auditorium Screening (March 3, 2024)
Film Festivals & Gallery Exhibitions
WINNER of "Critic's Choice Award" at SyraQs Micro Film Festival for "Teens Emerge in Downtown Syracuse" (Festival Screening on Everson Facade, Oct. 19, 2025)
"Humans & Nature: A Changing Relationship" Group Exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art Connecticut. Video works by TwMC participants Linnea Warren, Charles DeShields, and Selaci Butoto (January 9 - March 2, 2025)
Upcoming:
"VISIONS OF HOPE: Moving Images by Teens with a Movie Camera" at ArtRage, the Norton Putter Gallery, Syracuse, NY (Feb. 7-March 21, 2026)
Most Recent Edition (Summer 2025)
🚀 Stay Tuned for What's Next! 🪐
If you're interested in learning more about TwMC events and opportunities,
please fill out the general interest form linked below:
For more info, please contact Lida via lisuchy@syr.edu or (315) 420-7698.
Follow Us on Social Media:
What we realized, while working on this community-based project, is that a new web of connections between “neighbors” and neighborhoods in the City of Syracuse is being woven.
THANK YOU to our network of supporters:
EHN: Engaged Humanities Network
Nottingham High School
Bird Library Digital Scholarship Space
CNYCF: Central New York Community Foundation
Syracuse University Humanities Center's 2025-2026 Symposium on "Creativity"
This project is made possible through the CNY Arts Grants for Regional Arts and Cultural Engagement regrant program thanks to a New York State Senate Initiative supported by the NYS Legislature, the Office of the Governor and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.
