Syracuse Symposium Event, 2025
"Community Cinema: Filmmaking in Our Own Backyards"
A Special Screening Followed by a Q&A with the Teen Filmmakers
February 2, 2025 in Watson Theater
Embedded Files
Still from "Teens with a Movie Camera: Visions of Community," featuring a community garden of handcrafted shadow puppets.
Written Excerpt From:
"Teens with a Movie Camera Puts Community on the Big Screen"
by Colette Goldstein, Journalist at
Syracuse University Humanities Center
"Sunday's screening, supported in part by the Syracuse University Humanities Center, revealed a kaleidoscope of storytelling approaches and artistic interpretations by students — from experimentation with stop-motion animation, to anime-inspired sequences, to slice-of-life vignettes capturing candid moments of teenage existence. The reel also featured deeply personal works, including an account of a student's immigration journey from Afghanistan and her current pursuit of education.
Video melded into video, forming a digital mosaic that echoed the Humanities Center's 2024-2025 Syracuse Symposium theme, “Community,” as seen through the eyes of Syracuse youth. Each frame offered a perspective that, when stitched together, painted a broader picture of the world these young artists navigate."
An audience gathers in Watson Auditorium on Syracuse University campus, greeted by a smiling whiteboard, sound recordings from Carl Sagan's "Golden Record" Voyager space capsule, and a mysterious table covered in fruits and art supplies.
Event Photography by Dian Ling (Thank you, Dian!)
Opening Activity: Messages to Martians
As an audience of over 70 people arrived in Watson Theater, an interactive station at the front of the room prompted attendees to write "Messages to Martians," describing what is important about the community of Syracuse.
Post-Screening Q&A Panel with Teen Filmmakers
"A Q&A session followed the screening, where the young filmmakers shared insights into their creative processes and how the program has influenced their views on art, technology, and the world around them. The students revealed how these weekly workshops had a transformative impact on their relationship to their phones: suddenly, these devices became tools for storytelling rather than mere streams of consumption." —Colette Goldstein
A Special Guest + Live Audio Performance
In special attendance was the living whiteboard who starred in the recent TwMC short "HUZZAH! A Banana," created by Leo during our workshop only two days prior to the event date.
This short had its premiere at the Symposium Screening—silently at first, before the audience in Watson Theater was invited to record a live soundtrack. The version above includes audio created by attendants during the screening.
Reflections on Community Cinema
Written Excerpt From:
"Teens with a Movie Camera Puts Community on the Big Screen"
By Colette Goldstein, Article by the
Syracuse University Humanities Center
Evan Bode, one of the program’s founders and leaders, emphasized the importance of a program like Teens with a Movie Camera in fostering inclusivity and self-expression, particularly for under-resourced and marginalized youth.
“Whenever you point a camera at something, you're saying that it matters. To show themselves and their lives, and to project that onto a big screen, can be an affirming experience,” Bode said. “Their voices matter and their perspectives matter, in a world where they might not always feel that.”
As Teens with a Movie Camera prepares to embark on its next chapter of filmmaking, soon to begin its third round of weekly filmmaking sessions, the program solidifies its mission: amplifying young voices, fostering creativity, and nurturing a sense of belonging. Through the simple act of pressing record, these young filmmakers are not just documenting their world — they’re shaping it."
“The arts can connect people. And being creative isn't just about the product that gets made, but also the process of making it, and the connections that can be made in that process. So art can serve not only as a form of personal expression but also community building,” said Bode. “That’s something I’ve really learned through the experience of actually seeing it happen.”
Thank You to Our Supporters:
The Engaged Humanities Network, Light Work / Urban Video Project, CNY Arts, the North Side Learning Center, the SOURCE, VPA, SayYes to Education Syracuse, Nottingham High School, the Bird Library Digital Scholarship Space, and the Syracuse Symposium by the Syracuse University Humanities Center.
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.
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