Previous Community Projects
In the summer of 2002, Raindance organised a number of filmmaking events in selected London schools through its Raindance Kids Workshop. For instance, it teamed up with Lewisham Education Business Partnership to provide Forest Hill Boys School with a one-week workshop that allowed 21 students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of the filmmaking process. The workshop took place in the final week of the summer holidays with a mixed ability group. While the preparation and editing work took place in the school, the students left the premises to interview local people and film in the area. The students agreed that the film should deal with aspects of life in the borough and should focus on the concept of community. Young people were asked to demonstrate how communities contain, sustain and encourage diversity, stimulate creativity and work together to solve shared problems.
Through discussion, the students chose to focus on refugees. Students then worked in four small groups to produce short pieces of work that highlighted issues faced by refugee communities. The students were responsible for the ideas, as well as the filming and editing. They subsequently discussed their finished work, thoroughly evaluating its success. The final films, including both documentaries and simple dramas, were shown at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton in 2002.
During the 10th Raindance Film Festival, Raindance Kids offered a programme of shorts and one feature per day, divided by a course in filmmaking for children.
