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“Do you want to work with people you’ve never met before doing something to get a message across that you collaboratively decide on?”
A question posed to Cate, a Maine high school student, prior to being invited to take part in a fully immersive cross-cultural creative arts program run by EMA partner Filmbuilding. The program brought together 13 students—seven from Kloof High School in South Africa and six three schools in the U.S.—for a six-week filmmaking workshop. Their goal? To co-create short films on the theme of Unity in Diversity.
Working in three groups, the students co-created films that explored their differences, dismantled stereotypes, and, ultimately, helped each teen find their voice. The film by Cate’s group, Call Me Color, beautifully illustrates how our individual experiences shape the colors of our world—creating a shared human experience stronger than the sum of its parts.
‘It doesn’t matter that we’re on different continents, because our different experiences are exactly what ties us together,’ Cate said as she reflected on the program. ‘It’s an educational experience, but I think, more than that, it’s about learning about yourself and learning about how you best communicate with others and how other people’s stories can inspire you and how you can make an idea in a very vague concept into a physical product.’
“Make visible what, without you, might never have been seen.”
A quote from French filmmaker Robert Bresson that Tom Flint, Filmbuilding’s founder and director, believes perfectly embodies the heart of the FIlmbuilding experience. After team building exercises, the students dove into their creative process: brainstorming ideas, mapping out scenes, and exchanging feedback. Beyond the technical work, they bonded over their shared goal—turning their unique perspectives into a powerful story. With original songs, poetry, and unique approaches, their films became a testament to collaboration and creativity.
In addition to the skills and resources brought to the project, students made a commitment to share their time with each other, as expressed by Kloof student Lwandle: 'What I enjoyed most was the times we had the core group together because we would express our ideas and everybody would listen. We could all sacrifice our time for what we were doing, and we were able to put our all into this. Even though our schedules were super tight and busy, we made time for each other to make it go well.'
Another student, Will from Malden Catholic High School near Boston, noted how the time with his Filmbuilding cohort made him “feel much more confident in my ability to communicate with a team now.”
Cate continued her reflection, noting that, “Film is the best medium for building community. It combines visuals and audio and writing and song. It’s literally all of art. It’s real human beings and their emotions portrayed on screen. That’s how you build community, by connecting with others feeling the same things. Authenticity heals people. If you can communicate a feeling that you genuinely feel and other people feel the same, they feel heard and they don’t feel alone and that’s what it’s all about.”
As one might expect with such a fluid creative process, the final films differed greatly from the original ideas, but they always stayed true to the project’s original goals: exploring our unique differences and shared humanity.
Explore the film’s from FilmBuilding’s Unity in Diversity students below.
Interested in bringing the creative power of Filmbuilding to your community? Learn more at filmbuilding.org, or email Tom Flint at thefilmbuilder@gmail.com
