A New Kind of Storytelling: Filmmaking in Morocco

The SIPS Fund supported Charlotte Cherry (SFS ’16) to travel to Morocco to offer video production classes to students at a local school. With SIPS’ help, Charlotte developed a curriculum, with video production tools like iPads and software, for her workshop. She was able to stay in Morocco for nearly a month to teach more than 20 students about filmmaking and to help them create their own video projects.

While some of the students in Charlotte’s classes had some experience in filmmaking, most had none. Her biggest challenge therefore was preparing for the classes and ensuring students were made significant progress each class, given language and cultural barriers. She soon discovered that allowing students to experiment with the filmmaking tools was the best teaching method.

Aside from training, Charlotte gave her students a storytelling assignment where she encouraged them to plan, write, film, and edit a short movie. Groups of students worked enthusiastically to tell stories about topics like drug addiction in their community. During this project, her students faced and ultimately learned from challenges and were proud of their final products.

Because of Charlotte’s work and the interest she generated, the local school began a Video Production Club this fall. She plans to stay involved with the new club and remain a resource for her students.