Turning to the Arts: How 7 Student Filmmakers Processed the Pandemic
In March, Springtide launched The New Normal: 8 Ways to Care for Gen Z in a Post-Pandemic World. For many of us, the last year was spent in isolation or in the company of only a few close friends, family, or coworkers—all in an effort to protect our communities. But we’re entering a unique point on the timeline: a time at which we can both reflect on what happened a year ago and start to anticipate what the future holds.
The New Normal is about looking forward—it’s filled with practical tips for the ways you work with young people that help you consider the ways they might be processing this pandemic. But while these tips may be future-oriented, they’re rooted in understanding what’s been going on in the inner and outer lives of young people for the past year. One of those tips is to TURN TO THE ARTS to find new modes of expression—which is exactly what Makaeo, Briana, Annie, Kyle, Jonas, Zachary, and Mariana did.
Springtide is excited and honored to feature a series of short films, created by student filmmakers in the first few months of the pandemic, as young people began to process what life in lockdown might look and feel like. This film series is called Quaranteen Voices.
As you view these short films, we invite you to consider how resilient, hopeful, and creative young people have been throughout the pandemic—and be mindful of the ways these traits that will no doubt drive them forward as we embark on the next big transition after the pandemic.
Turning to the Arts can mean making these kinds of films, but it can also mean tuning into videos like these—the artwork and expression of others—and spending time reflecting on what someone else’s experience reveals about your own. To help you (and the young people in your life) process, the filmmakers of Quaranteen Voices created a resource page with a helpful discussion guide, and educators from the high school district these students are a part of created a corresponding lesson plan that people can sign up to use.
And if you’re interested in seeing how other young people creatively processed the pandemic as it was just beginning, be sure to check out Springtide’s At-Home Creativity Campaign, featuring artwork, music, writing, and more from young people around the country.
