Young filmmakers premiere short film for HPS students; next stop: YWCA film festival

Seven students at Huntsville Public School unveiled their short film “What It’s Like To Be a Girl” during a school assembly on January 15. The eight-and-a-half-minute film featured students and school staff – both female and male – and touched on body image, discrimination, and social media influences on girls.

All of the students are part of the school’s student leadership group and wanted to address what they see as an imbalance in our society.

“Boys are sometimes valued more than girls,” said grade seven student Olivia Luttrell.

“And they can see themselves as more powerful,” added Millie Cassie-Batchelor, a grade eight student. “There’s still a lot of judgement directed at girls.”

Grade seven student Niva Grisé knows about the good work the YWCA does to empower girls. “When I learned we could do this project, I was interested because I have experience going to YWCA programs. It’s a good opportunity to raise awareness.”

It took the group approximately three months to plan and produce the film, but technical difficulties meant that they had to scramble to pull it together in the week and a half before the launch.

They appreciated the opportunity to work with students from other grades. “It was fun,” said Cole Frasier, a grade seven student. “I got to get to know some of the little kids better (by working on this project).”

Briar Summers-Arndt, also in grade seven, added, “It’s nice to work with other students and find out what their opinions are and how they’re different from yours.”

Hannah Lin, Executive Director of YWCA Muskoka, thanked the young filmmakers for their work

These young filmmakers hope to inspire different attitudes with their work. “I hope that people will realize the problem and try to change,” said Olivia, while Leya Tonkavic hopes people will have a compassionate response: “If you know a girl who is alone or upset, you can give her a hug and make her feel better.”

Hannah Lin, Executive Director of YWCA Muskoka, was on hand for the premiere. The film will also be screened at the 6^th Annual YWCA Women in Film Festival at the Rene Caisse Theatre in Bracebridge on International Women’s Day, March 8. “I thought it was great,” she said. “The message was clear – we need equality for girls and women. And it was told in easy language for everyone to understand. What they’ve produced shows leadership. It’s a huge gift.”