East L.A. Students Create Documentary Videos Exposing the Lack of Access to Healthy Foods
6.14.11 | Last week we wrote about Out the Window, an art installation project that is turning city buses into screening rooms. Forty short videos by Los Angeles youth will be shown on Metro buses between June 13-19.
The videos include a “24-hour cinematic celebration” of everyday life; stories of life in L.A.’s Filipinotown; and students’ own personal stories of immigration and migration. “Have You Noticed How Far You Have To Go To Get To A Supermarket?,” was written, performed and produced by students from the East Los Angles Renaissance Academy (ELARA) at Esteban Torres High School with help from teachers and artists from Public Matters. The film is part of a series called “Have You Noticed? /Té Has Fijado?” that explores issues of access to healthy food and the consequences of living in a food desert.
The videos are available at the project’s website; Spotlight will continue to feature more shorts in the weeks to come.
And if you’re in the Los Angeles area, you can join the students from ELRA for a meet-up and bus tour of their neighborhood this Saturday, June 18. The students will discuss their video work and East L.A.’s food desert landscape.
The Out the Window project is a winner in the HASTAC Digital Media and Learning Competition. Read more about the project here.
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