A short documentary film made by young women that live in Burns Lake was screened for the community for the first time last Thursday.
The film entitled ‘It’s Not Easy But We Can Make It Work: The struggles of a small town’ was a series of short movie clips approximately two minutes long that were played one after the other.
Each clip was a different woman or women telling a story about what it was like to grow up in Burns Lake.
The movie then ended with a short film highlighting how the group would like to see their community grow and change.
In making their movies, the women were asked to explore a set of questions, including, what is it like to be a young women in Burns Lake, why do you stay in Burns Lake, what is there to do in Burns Lake and how can you improve Burns Lake?
The majority of the women touched on the same topics of being a good role model for younger siblings, the sense of community they feel amongst their friends, the pressure that is associated with growing up as a young women when it comes to relationships and how they hope to enact change by taking ownership of the change and becoming involved in their community.
The making of this documentary was facilitated by the Lakes Learning Centre in Burns Lake, as well as the group ‘Setting the Stage.’
Adrienne Hiebert, an instructor at the learning centre was instrumental in helping the women complete their projects.
Unfortunately, due to job action by B.C. teachers, Hiebert was unable to attend the event, but passed along a message to her students and to those in the audience.
“I’d like to thank everyone for coming, and to thank the girls for putting themselves out there,” Hiebert said, “it’s hard to put yourself out there and to be judged for it. It starts with finding a voice and realizing that it’s not easy.”
“Finding your voice can be a life long journey.”
The film has been screened at the Burns Lake Alternative Arts Festival, and was shown last Friday at Lakes District Secondary School. The ‘Setting the Stage’ project was funded by the Status Women of Canada.
The young women involved in the project were, Richelle Bishop, Tenisha Sampson, Heidi Lowley, Katherine Plasway, Kiana Charlie, Ariel Patrick, Trisha Patrick, Seneca Crouse, Michelle Tom, Kayla and Charity Tom.
