Aug. 7, 2002 – "Intentions," a short movie written, produced and directed and edited by the participants in the Youth Moviemaking Workshop of the Reichhold Center for the Arts will premiere at the Reichhold Center, at 7 p.m. Friday.
The movie was written by participants Renee Benjamin and Jasmine Francis, and instructors Denise Humphrey and Anula Shetty.
Acting in the movie are Felix Fleming, an Anguillan and former long-time St. Thomas resident; Pamela Toussaint, a Reichhold employee; and workshop participants Francis and Gregland Ward.
The Friday evening showing is free to the public and will include an awards ceremony.
The premiere of the movie marks the finale and graduation from the workshop that has been going on for the past seven weeks.
Workshop participants were Geneva Adams, Benjamin, Gregg Farrington, Francis, Favinn Maynard, Tyesha Rivera, Richard Simmonds and Ward. All will be present at the showing.
"I'm very proud of the work done by the students and instructors," said David Edgecombe, Reichhold director. "They were challenged to learn new skills and worked collaboratively to produce good work. The knowledge acquired this summer will benefit each student for a lifetime. We hope to have started something that will lead to a tradition of producing world-class movies from the Virgin Islands."
The annual workshop is for youths ages 13 to 21. This summer, nine students gained hands-on technical and editing skills, learning video photography and use of Final Cut Pro, the industry's leading software for digital editing. Their production exercises included "Life Stories," five-minute nonfiction documentaries of local residents; "Poem Dramatizations," the staging of student-written poetry; and "Intentions," the 15-minute film project.
Students also learned animation, scriptwriting and the language of storytelling through storyboards, according to a release.
The program was directed by instructors Shetty and Humphrey. "I've taught youth programs throughout the world and I am inspired and impressed by the commitment of the students here in the V.I.," said Shetty. "I commend the Virgin Islands for a fine group of young people."
The workshop was made possible by major funding from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Vira I. Heinz Endowment, the William Penn Foundation and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
For more information on the program, contact Humphrey at the Reichhold Center at 693-1550. For information on the movie premiere, call the Reichhold box office at 693-1559.
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