Solving Societies Injustices: Young People Using Film to Change the World

2020 was anything but a normal year.

Recent years have felt like we’ve been bouncing from crisis to crisis. We’ve had the climate emergency coming to a head, the #MeToo and BLM movements highlighting huge issues in our society and to compound this, a global pandemic.

COVID, and all of the restrictions that the lockdown put on our lives, forced us to change a great deal about how we live day to day. This was the same for our projects here at Blue Shoes.

Earlier this year, we had the pleasure to work alongside a very talented group of young people in Harrow (aged 5-14), in collaboration with Harrow Arts Centre. Shaping the World Around Us was a four-week programme in which we guided the group through the process of creating their first documentary. We had insightful discussions each week with the young participants as we led them through each stage. We started with an idea and storyboarding workshop, through to filming and interviewing techniques, and ended with a screening and Q&A in our final session.

A storyboard completed by Alex (11 years old)

We wanted the group to creatively direct the project, choosing their own themes and interviewees. The young people were enthusiastic to speak out about some of society’s biggest issues, including climate change, COVID and gender equality, to name just three. We were very impressed with how well everyone engaged with the themes that they chose, and they highlighted just how well young people can engage with the biggest issues that we face today.

Planting seeds in the garden with Bheeni (10 years old)

We learned a great deal, and we hope the group did too! We’re really proud of the work that they produced, and you can catch the final film here: