Filmmaker Spotlight

Mayor For A Day

The short documentary Mayor for a Day, created as part of The Great Expectations Hopes and Fears Film Competition, was an opportunity for filmmakers Alison Crouse and Tracy Pereira, and spoken word artist Mee-Lin Youk to team up and engage urban youth in a conversation about their community. This film stems from the work Alison and Mee-Lin have done under the banner of 'Seeing our Voices.' 'Seeing Our Voices' is an independent, grassroots program dedicated to articulating the voices of inner city youth. The project was created in response to the youth violence, disenfranchisement, and apathy that Alison and Mee-Lin witnessed in their own community. Based on the observation that the self-esteem and confidence of these children builds and stabilizes as they are heard and respected, the project aims to provide space, guidance, and encouragement in a mentor-like structure. The project focuses on youth between the impressionable ages of 5-12 years old, and uses activities such as baseball, swimming and rock climbing to encourage problem solving and conflict resolution disguised within play. For the past three years the project’s goal has been to address, acknowledge and articulate the web of social conditions that collide to put a child into any of the many desperate situations in which they may find themselves: the hospital, jail, foster care etc. By organizing multiple screenings of Mayor for a Day, where the kids have been given the opportunity to introduce their film, The Greater Philadelphia Film Office and the Bryn Mawr Film Institute have helped to expand the visibility of these children and to increase the throw of their voices. It is the filmmakers’ goal to continue this momentum, and to bring these and other youth into contact with the larger world community. Alison Crouse is a Master of Fine Arts candidate (Film and Media Arts) at Temple University. This summer she will produce her narrative thesis A Song of Fishes. Her short, observational film Nadira documents a Seeing Our Voices outing in Wissahickon park. It can be viewed here: http://blip.tv/file/983916 Tracy Pereira is currently an MFA (Film & Media Arts) student at Temple. She is co-director of a feature length documentary about two Philadelphia youth (The Bloodlines Video Diary Project), which premiered at the Philadelphia Film Festival, 2008. For more information go to: http://fromheretoawesome.com/thebloodlinesvideodiaryproject/ Mee-Lin Youk is a spoken word artist whose works have been performed and presented throughout Philadelphia and New York. Part of the community in which she works, her spoken word addresses the social and political issues of her urban environment. “Seeing Our Voices” can be contacted at: http://www.greatexpectations07.com/film