Building Community
As a publicly funded project, every penny counts and finding resources can be a huge challenge. While we'll happily accept free handouts, we would also like to build mutually beneficial relationships with our community partners.
What We Are About
At the core of our approach is a desire to help youth build confidence in their skills and a clearer picture of their future, while building connections in the community.
Skills Development
Making a documentary is more than pointing a camera at something and hitting record; well, at least not with our approach.
Next to the technical skills like camera handling and working in video editing software, our program also emphasizes soft skills such as:
planning & project management
storytelling
interview skills
research
This combination builds a broad set of skills that prepare youth for a wide range of career opportunities.
Community Connection
We are striving to build bridges between youth and between youth and the community. CBS (Centraal Bureau van Statistiek) data suggest that around 12% of youth are emotionally and socially very lonely. With over 2 million youth in the Netherlands, that is not an insignificant sum.
Through a pool of community members who are open to being approached by our participants, we hope to pen the door for youth to build connections, not just with each other but with local community members, helping to combat the feelings of loneliness, and in those that struggle with hopelessness over their future - maybe putting a little hope back in there.
What Our Program Can Do For You
Awareness & Visibility: All of our documentaries will be showcased on our website as well as our Youtube Channel. We will also submit some of our documentaries to film festivals, further increasing visibility.
Public Relations: Showing commitment to community always looks good & can help you build on your positive connections within the community.
Attract Fresh Talent: Our participants aren't necessarily doing our course to become documentary filmmakers. Among other things, our program aims to provide a fun way for youth to explore career opportunities by making documentaries about businesses, people or fields that they are interested in - learning about possibilities while developing valuable skills.
Maximise Utility: If you have rooms or equipment that are underutilised in your location, why not put them to use for a positive purpose? Next to the "steentje bijdragen" there may opportunities here for subsidies or grants.
Activate Your Youth: If you work with and are looking for more ways to keep them engaged or engaging them - look no further!
New Volunteers/Supporters: Through being introduced to your organisation on a deeper level, participants may wish to become involved or at the very least, they may become advocates for what you do.
How You Can Help Us
Become a Documentary Subject: How many times, in what ways, etc - we want to make sure that participation is positive experience for everyone involved!
Send Us Your Youth!: If you are an organisation that works with youth, spreading the word about our program through your network would be very much appreciated! Or better yet: let's arrange a program together 🙂
Lend Us Your Space and/or Gear: To teach filmmaking, we need space... and gear. And while we have some of both, we can always use more - spaces that allow us to get into communities that might not get to have such a program, gear that allows more youth to participate, or for us to offer even more value to you and to our participants (more on this below ↓).
Maatschappelijke Diensttijd
Our initiative is funded through the Maatschappelijke Diensttijd, where the three pillars of skills development, meaningful encounters and doing something for another, are central.
Our program reflects all three of these pillars:
We help youth develop useful skills, regardless of whether they see filmmaking as a career path or not
We strive to connect participants with people in the community to build meaningful relationships
While our community members help us through volunteering their stories and their time, our participants are making films to share their stories to a larger audience, for business a form of advertising, for someone else with a story to tell, a way to preserve that story for future generations - thus doing something for someone else.
This relationship is certainly not one-sided. We learn just as much, building our skills and knowledge while having meaningful encounters with community partners and youth, so in a way, we are as much beneficiaries as we are providers!
Spotlight: Participant Documentary
Asal, 20, made this documentary about Abdul, a young Syrian man who fled Syria with his mom and siblings when he was 6 years old.
In this documentary, he shares his story - the process of coming here and his experiences being part of the Dutch community.
FAQ
Which ages are eligible to join?
Our target age group is 15 to 29, inclusive.
What does our program cost?
Our program is sponsored through the Maatschappelijke Diensttijd for youth who are registered and living in the Netherlands.
How does it support refugees?
It fosters skills and connections for a brighter future.
Are instructors refugees?
Yes, they share valuable experiences.
Is there a cost?
Participation is free for youth.
How to get involved?
Contact us to learn about opportunities.
Contact Us
Email:
partner@learnfilmmaking.nl
Questions? Interested in how we can work together? Just fill in this form or send us an email and we'll get in touch!
