Widefield HS Student Filmmaker Faces Pain, Wins Acclaim

Originally created by G. Connor Salter, June 3rd, 2020

When Tom Shepard started Youth Documentary Academy in 2013, he was hoping to get young people making documentaries showing their views on difficult issues. To his surprise, something else happened along the way.

“One thing that is quite common is that these young people are taking on an issue that was previously taboo or shameful or hard to talk about,” Shepard explained. “By making a film, there’s something that happens in that process. I don’t know what it is, but it’s almost like they are able to create some distance by bringing journalism to it or interviewing people. It’s quite interesting. They almost flip that experience.”

This process is especially powerful for YDA students like Coryn McAfee. McAfee, who graduates from Widefield High School this month, heard about the Youth Documentary Academy program from one of her Widefield teachers. She unsuccessfully applied to it during her freshman year, but got accepted when she applied again during her junior year.

Like all YDA students, McAfee completed a seven-week course on documentary filmmaking where she had to make and distribute her own film. After doing workshops with other students, McAfee decided to make a documentary about her difficult relationship with her father. She planned the film (eventually titled “My Dad”) for two weeks and shot the footage over two more weeks. She started by filming a scene of her mother in Widefield Park. “I wanted to add a bit of a ‘homey’ feel to the scene since she grew up here and she was my star of my film,” McAfee explained.

You can see the full article here: https://www.epcan.com/story/2020/06/03/schools/widefield-hs-student-filmmaker-faces-pain-wins-acclaim/7424.html