Reflections on the Screenwriter’s workshop

In March 2008, Hot Sun Foundation held a six day workshop at the Kenya Film Commission for youth from Kibera. Below are some reflections by the workshop facilitator, Mary Beth Fielder, senior lecturer, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.

The workshop began with a discussion of what makes a good story. Building on the idea that every story is about a character in crisis, we asked the participants to introduce themselves by sharing a crisis point from their own lives . . . They then broke into groups and brainstormed ways to develop them into compelling scripts for short films.

Participants reported feeling "transformed" by the process of searching for meaning within their own experiences. They also felt empowered by contemplating how a character in a similar set of circumstances might react and the choices they could make to confront the "crisis." This process of using their imagination to explore the characters' options caused them to contemplate how they might take a more active role in their own lives.