BANGALORE: Viewing their life through a lens showed a completely different perspective of life, one that they will remember for lessons learnt. Middle and high school students from the city paoundation in association with American India Foundation on Monday. Adorticipated in a short-film screening competition organised by Adobe Fbe is commemorating the sixth year of its programme in India. The event, held in Chowdiah Memorial Hall, showcased over 22 short films (each running to about five to ten minutes) filmed by children from various Government-aided schools and non-governmental organisations across the city. Issues such as racial discrimination, gender discrimination, education system, corruption, and environmental issues were highlighted by the children through documentaries. Students and teachers turned out in large numbers to encourage their friends and students respectively. Programme manager of Adobe Foundation, Patricia Cogley said, “We look for schools that need similar programmes and equipment to augment their educational programme and infrastructure. Through this programme, we encourage students to explore around and come up with different story ideas. We mainly choose the Government-aided schools. Media is a powerful tool to express their ideas and thoughts. This programme caters to around 750 schools around the world. Over 50 schools from India were chosen.”America India Foundation provided the selected students and educators with software training programmes, technical training to use the camera and training programmes for mentors, among other things. Children were allowed to choose their own topics and explore the story idea. Roopa C, a student from Government Girls High School, Adugodi, who made a documentary highlighting the beauty of Bangalore, said, “While making the film, we got a practical exposure to filmmaking and the technicalities in using a camera. We also had an opportunity to interview people. They were glad that we had taken such an initiative.” Students were involved in the entire process — from scripting to editing — since June 2011. In each phase, the students said that the learning experience cannot be replicated in a classroom environment. Nethravathi, a student from Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), said, “We made a documentary on gender discrimination highlighting the point that equal rights for all genders make a child empowered. We got first-hand information, which we were not aware of earlier, from activists themselves.”
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