Wilburn Fellowship 2012 Gita Abhiraman, Jessicao Kao, & Alex Klapper

Project Overview Create a documentary comprised of international video diaries Pose the question: What defines your culture? – Send Flip video cameras to each site of interest: India, Taiwan, Mexico – Ask participants to create a video highlighting 3 facets they believe best encompass the beauty or joy in their livelihood

Global Connections: Project Sites New Canaan, USA Medellin, Colombia Chennai, India Taipei, Taiwan 5 cities, 4+ languages Veracruz, Mexico

New Canaan, USA Gita, Jessica, & Alex 16 years old Hobbies: Violin/Piano, Debate Language: English

Medellin, Colombia Carolina Palacio 10 years old i Hobbies: Figure skating Language: Spanish

Taipei, Taiwan Tetsu Lin 22 years old Hobbies: Drawing Manga Music Movies Language: Mandarin Chinese

Chennai, India Monish & Nitish 16 & 13 years old Hobbies: Chess, Cricket Language: Tamil, Hindi, English

Veracruz, Mexico Regina Lopey Rechy 17 years old Hobbies: Tennis Language: Spanish, English

Feasibility Rough schedule: – April 13 th – Finalists chosen – April 20 th – Mail Flip cameras – April 30 th – Cameras arrive at destinations – May 12 th – Filming completed (2 weeks allotted), cameras & footage shipped back – May 22 nd – Cameras & footage arrive – May 29 th – Editing completed (1 week allotted) Notes: – Locations & participants already chosen – Our team’s documentary film experience will expedite editing process

Goals Complete immersion in unfamiliar societies Discover and share the essence of cultures through the artful form of documentary Long term sustainability through the foreign language departments – Enhanced language learning – Understanding of daily life Overall: “Widening the Scope” by revealing the beauty of our diverse global community

In Memory of Gary Wilburn