For the first time at SMI we are documenting the entire summer with a short movie that has been being filmed since the beginning of the program. The documentary will include interviews with the 14 SMI participants and the youth trainers and will show the progression of the teens throughout the summer. Ultimately this production will be used by CCTV to present to funders and interested organizations.

The first project that the youth created was a personal narrative on a location in Cambridge that is important to them. In the documentary the participants reveal their ideas for the project, opinions about it and talked of the process of making it. Overall the assignment was liked, although some individuals found it slightly dull and would have preferred doing a music video as some have done in previous years. Despite some negative feelings, most of the productions came out great. Check them out here.

As the fourth week comes to and end the participants are starting to finalize stories and begin filming for their second and final projects of the summer. In just a few days most project were finalized and at this point they are fully developed and ready to be produced.

Though the documentary is nowhere near to finished it continues to progress and it coming along well.

- Laura Asherman
SMI Documentarian 2007