WELCOME, VISITORS!
WELCOME, VISITORS!
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Join us on February 7 from 3-5pm for Our Place in Space: A Creative Voyage!
Can we reimagine filmmaking as an inclusive art practice, open to all—one that nurtures safe spaces for playful, collaborative, and imaginative engagement with media arts as a way of building local communities?
Using smartphones, old projectors, paper cut-outs, props found on curbs, and other readily accessible tools, Teens with a Movie Camera produces shorts that embrace our collective freedom to imagine, dream, and create together as active participants in shaping our world—regardless of age or resources.
“Visions of Hope” invites visitors on an uplifting voyage that celebrates the creativity of local youth and looks for magic everywhere, from everyday life in Syracuse to the mystery of our place in the universe.
Visit
at
Don't miss the immersive in-person exhibition, on view from
Feb. 7, 2026 - March 21, 2026 at ArtRage Gallery in Syracuse, NY!
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
What is TwMC? Teens with a Movie Camera is a community art project that brings together City of Syracuse teens, local artists / art-media faculty, and SU students, to enable a journey of hands-on filmmaking. We use smartphones and other easily accessible tools to show that anyone can make powerful films, regardless of resources. Rooted in the spirit of independent DIY filmmaking, our motto is: “Work with what you have, where you are. Be smart, make ART!”
VISIONS OF HOPE features collaboratively produced works that center on themes of creativity, community, and imagination as sources of hope for accomplishing what may at first seem impossible.
Concept by Mišo Suchý, Lida Suchy, Evan Bode
Exhibition Curated by Evan Bode
Installation Design by Oksana Kazmina
Catalog Design by Joe Librandi-Cowan
Creative Assistance by Shokoofeh Jabbari
Web Design: Evan Bode
THANK YOU to our supporters!
Syracuse University Humanities Center, as part of Syracuse Symposium 2025–26: Creativity; the Central New York Community Foundation; Light Work / Urban Video Project; Engaged Humanities Network; CNYArts; the North Side Learning Center; the SOURCE; College of VPA; Nottingham High School; and Say Yes Syracuse.
ONLINE VIDEO GALLERY
ONLINE VIDEO GALLERY
Filmmaking empowers us to rewrite reality’s rules, as a playground of possibility where anything can happen. Too often, however, visual effects seem inaccessible and intimidating to achieve for anyone but an elite few with expensive production budgets, positioning the rest of us as passive consumers. By working imaginatively with everyday tools and objects, young filmmakers reclaim their power and agency as cinematic creators, framing the ordinary world in new ways that defy expectation and empower all of us to participate joyfully in the art of movie magic.
Leapfrog (2025) by TwMC Collective, feat. Bol + Lucky
Huzzah! A Banana (2025) by Leandro Altana, feat. Tevvon Hines
Camera Obscura (2025) by the TwMC Collective
The Moon Won’t Judge Us (2025) by Julien Hesse
Kitchen Magic / Eggsperiments by the TwMC Collective
Edited by Evan Bode
Notions of impossibility stifle progress by leading us to believe that the present world, as it exists, cannot exist otherwise. Yet, throughout history, dedicated change-makers have proven time and again that even the most seemingly insurmountable challenges and unshakeable realities can be overcome through radical imagination, hard work, and persistent struggle in the direction of a dream. Tackling big ideas through small personal anecdotes, symbolic visuals, and the playful parable of a chicken who yearns to fly, teen filmmakers remind us that the boundaries of possibility can always be expanded.
Keep Trying (2025) by Halima Abdi
Chickadee Overcomes Gravity (2025) by the TwMC Collective
Paper Moon Plates (2025) by the TwMC Collective
Lift-Off! (2025) by the TwMC Collective
Edited by Evan Bode
Starting a new life in Syracuse as refugees from Afghanistan, sisters Sidra and Studa share their personal story of migration. Another Afghan teen, Hadia, reflects on healing from struggles of the past as she looks forward to the future with hope.
Bridges to the Future (2024) by Sidra Saba, Studa Saba
This is My Dream (2024) by Sidra Saba, interview with Lida Suchy
Morning in Syracuse (2024) by Sidra Saba, Studa Saba
Snow Day (Excerpt) (2025) by the TwMC Collective
Today’s Peace (2024) by Hadia Kamwar
Edited by Evan Bode
By showcasing the artistic process in action, we highlight the work of young artists constructing realities together.
Featuring the TwMC Collective (2025)
Primary cinematography by Lida Suchy
Whiteboard animation by Tarteel Ali + Robert Elliott III
Ocean Ball by Kaden Williams with Simón de Greiff
Edited by Evan Bode
Paying homage to Gordon Parks's photograph "Emerging Man" (1952), artists move in and out of visibility through playful gesture, concealing and revealing their faces in various spaces, becoming hidden giants in the city.
Collaborators: Charles DeShields, Leandro Altana, Linnea Warren, Tevvon Hines, Ryan Bode, Rayan Mohamed, Nola Johnson, Em Baker, Lida Suchy, Rama Alkasabra, Raghad Alkasabra, Marie Patrick, Marielys Carrasquillo, Evan Bode, Mišo Suchý, Hadia Kamwar
Edited by Evan Bode
Through short vignettes on the topic of coexistence and collaboration, teen filmmakers depict the occasionally frustrating but often rewarding work of coordinating multiple voices and perspectives at once. By organizing around shared goals as a diverse collective, we can do more than any single individual can accomplish by themselves. Beneath the surface of visible outcomes, though, the process along the way plants seeds of connection among neighbors, forming roots that strengthen networks of support and cultivate ongoing thriving through invisible ripple effects. As stated by teen participant Hadia, “community is like a garden that grows pretty and strong by being taken care of.”
Multilingual Greetings (2024) by the TwMC Collective
Glasses Exchange (2024) by Leo Altana, Monae Kyhara
Library Crossings (2024) by the TwMC Collective
Soccer Family (2024) by Sabir Salam, Ali Adams
Voices Together (2024) by the TwMC Collective
Stepping Together (2025) by Crystale Castillo, Laniya Tillie
Community Like a Garden (2024) by Hadia Kamwar, TwMC Collective
Edited by Evan Bode
Challenges such as depression, anxiety, the stress of school, and the weight of the world can make it feel impossible to care for one’s mental and emotional well-being. Using cinematic language as cathartic expression, teen artists explore and portray these struggles, as well as possible antidotes and pathways toward self-care.
Repeating (2024) by Nola Johnson
Trapped (2024) by Mia Lesley-Fox
Bathtub Bed (2024) by Nola Johnson, Leandro Altana
Bakery Bravery (2024) by Marielys Carrasquillo
Sleepy Guy (2024) by Tawhid Kamwar
Snow Day in Syracuse (2025) by the TwMC Collective
Escapism (2024) by Nola Johnson, Leandro Altana
Edited by Evan Bode
Interacting with images, light, shadow, time, and movement, teen creatives shape reality in their own hands and witness their work projected on the facade of the Everson Museum.
Featuring the TwMC Collective (2024)
Primary cinematography by Evan Bode
Angela Davis animation by Charles DeShields + Selaci Butoto
Butterfly animation by Charles DeShields + Selaci Butoto
Projector performances by Charles DeShields, Linnea Warren, Rama Alkasabra, Rayan Mohamed, Raghad Alkasabra, + Marielys Carrasquillo
Edited by Evan Bode
Tired of being weighed down by Earth’s gravity, a small but ambitious team of teens works together to accomplish the seemingly impossible in search of another world. Adapting a simple tent into a spaceship powered by imagination and orange juice, they take their own trip to the moon and befriend extraterrestrial neighbors.
Teen Collaborators: Laniya Tillie, Tarteel Ali, Shantell Shallo, Kaden Williams, Crystale Castillo, Fatma Mohamed, Julien Hesse,
Robert Elliott III, Leandro Altana, Nola Johnson
Undergraduate Creative Assistants: Morgan Albano, Simón de Greiff, Jacob Merson, Eliora Enriquez
MFA Visiting Artist: Shokoofeh Jabbari
TwMC Producers: Mišo Suchy, Lida Suchy, Evan Bode
Edited by Evan Bode
Additional editing by Simón de Greiff + Julien Hesse
Archival footage from A Trip to the Moon (1902)
Sounds + music courtesy of NASA Digital Audio Library
In this shifting patchwork of fragments, a multitude of perspectives collaborate to form a colorful display of community and creativity in Syracuse, as seen through the eyes of teens.
Images by the Teens with a Movie Camera Collective (2024-2025)
Collage Edited by Evan Bode
After viewing VISIONS OF HOPE by Teens with a Movie Camera, we hope you feel inspired to make your own movies. And when you do, we want to see them! This is an open invitation for short, imaginative mini-movies submitted by anyone of any age—especially teen artists / creators, dreamers, poets, inventors, and astronauts, as well as other curious explorers of the universe.
Aim for at least 30 seconds, but avoid longer than 2 minutes. Your movie could be a small story, but it doesn't have to be. It could also be a simple moment, an audio recording, or any moving image that's interesting to you as an artist, in response to the below prompts:
POTENTIAL TOPICS / CREATIVE PROMPTS, as starting points for YOUR short movie....
OVERCOMING GRAVITY ~ What weighs you down? What lifts you up?
KITCHEN TABLE MAGIC ~ Can you break reality's rules, making magic with everyday items found in your house?Maybe the free app "Stop Motion Studio" can help you...
DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE ~ What's something you USED to think was impossible in your life... until you did it? Or: what seemingly impossible change in the world do you WANT to come true in the future? Can you visualize this change occuring?
DISPATCHES FROM PLANET EARTH: You are sending a video into outer space, expressing what's important about your life on Planet Earth. Extraterrestrials who receive your message know nothing of our world and do not speak any human language.
How will you communicate? What will you show them?
Work with what you have, where you are.
BE SMART, MAKE ART!
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