Last month, we hosted a screening and talkback for the film The Mask You Live In. When we first envisioned this project in winter 2021, we were excited by the prospect of being able to offer special programming for local youth. Most of what we had done for youth in the past was summer camps or related to Sports Broadcasting. We wanted something socially relevant that would spark dialog and potentially inspire our youth to go out and start documenting their own stories. The first step to that was finding programming that would engage socially-minded teens and young adults ages 13 – 24.

We applied for and received grant funding from the California Humanities Quick Grant program to support our idea. The film screening, if successful, would become the first in a quarterly screening series. We originally anticipated hosting a Spring 2021 in-person screening, then pushed that out to the Fall. Unfortunately, both were postponed due to the pandemic and scheduling conflicts. We ended up showing the film this February with a 10-day online screening window that culminated in a moderated talkback over Zoom.

Approximately 36 people took part in the screening event with 12 individual participants and two watch parties. One watch party consisted of youth from Palo Alto High School and the other was a group of teens in an LGBTQ youth group. Of those participants, approx. 25 were in our targeted age range (under 25). There were eight active participants in our moderated talkback.

Although we anticipated that both the screening and talkback would take place over Zoom, we didn’t anticipate how disconnected that would make the event feel. By the time we held our talkback event, everyone, from staff to audience, had pretty much been Zoomed out. While a screening window, versus a single screening time, proved to be really convenient for participants, it meant we lost the power of a shared experience.

Next time, our strategy will be different. Our initial outreach was very targeted. And that is indeed where our watch party participants came from. Building relationships with schools and local nonprofits is definitely the way to go. However, it was clear that in order to truly succeed we need to find ways to directly engage local youth. Going forward, we want to establish a safe space where youth will feel comfortable talking about tough topics that shape their lives. We will definitely adopt a different model, probably one that involves a meeting/classroom visit before the screening and when possible, small, in-person screenings.

As we continue finessing our plans to better support the younger members of our community, we hope to work with a self-selected group of youth to brainstorm future topics for our youth screenings and conversations.