Nearly 50% of New York City students fail to graduate within 4 years, and only 20% of African American males continue on to college. But the Educational Video Center’s Documentary Workshop consistently beats those odds by engaging the most hard to reach students and teaching them academic research, citizenship, and filmmaking skills. They are so motivated that they come to EVC in the evenings and on weekends to meet the deadline to complete their projects. And every year, their documentaries win awards and are screened in film festivals all across the country because the stories they tell come from their own lives, and because they bring such grit, determination, and passion to their work.

The Documentary (Doc) Workshop is an intensive hands-on course that teaches high school students from underserved communities across New York City to collaboratively research, shoot, and edit compelling documentaries that explore issues of immediate relevance in their lives. Past subjects include youth violence, overcrowded schools, homophobia and environmental pollution. The Doc Workshop forms the foundation of EVC’s programs and methodology. Offered at a basic and advanced level, the program serves 50 public high school students a year.

Students earn school credit by attending the workshop at EVC’s facilities for 3 hours, 4 afternoons per week for 15 weeks. Unlike other programs offered in New York City’s public school system, the workshop provides an alternative learning environment for students who have otherwise struggled with traditional academic class work. Doc Workshop targets underserved students from predominantly low-income communities throughout all five boroughs of New York City. The student constituency is approximately 40% African American, 40% Latino, 10% Asian, 5% white and 5% various other ethnicities. 20% of the students are recent immigrants.

Each semester, students work in two groups of 12-15 to produce a documentary on a topic of personal interest and community relevance. Independently and in groups, students conduct research on their chosen topics. They identify and conduct interviews with community leaders. Additionally, students learn basic production skills such as camera operation and audio recording. When they have completed filming, the students participate in all facets of post-production, including sound mixing, video editing, and the creation of voice-overs and title cards. The students are responsible for all decisions, academic as well as artistic; they decide how to present their material and strive to do so in the most meaningful, logical, and impactful way.

At the conclusion of the semester, students present their finished documentaries at a public screening for family, friends, teachers, and other community members. They also present evidence of the skills they learned in portfolio assessment roundtables. Students are then invited to take Advanced Doc Workshop, which provides them with additional technical training and encourages a deeper inquiry and exploration of the chosen topic.