Recently got the good news that our friends at the Center for Asian American Media have been awarded a $15,000 grant from Asian Pacific Fund to produce Himalayan Youth Voices, a collection of short videos by and about Himalayan-American youth. The videos will premiere at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival in March 2012 and made available on the CAAM website. Here's part of the press release:
CAAM is partnering with Sahayeta, a Bay Area Nepali Alliance, to engage youth at the first annual Himalayan Youth Leadership Summit on August 20, 2011 at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, California. CAAM will work with the youth to develop their own video pieces that address the simple question, "What does it mean to be Nepali, Nepali-American, Tibetan, Tibetan-American, or Bhutanese, Bhutanese-American?"This is definitely an underrepresented community, and it's cool to see CAAM seizing the opportunity to bring the stories of Himalayan American youth to light. For more information about the Himalayan Youth Video Workshop, go to the Center for Asian American Media website here.
"This question is meant to serve as a starting point to encourage the youth to use video as a form of self-expression. Following an initial video workshop, CAAM hopes to work with young filmmakers to further explore what they feel to be pressing issues. Some possible topics could be cultural preservation, inter-generational concerns, community and political participation just to name a few," says Sapana Sakya, Public Media Director, CAAM.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sahayeta is a non-profit organization that provides free primary health care for individuals in the Himalayan community who do not have health insurance.
"We at Sahayeta have been interested in expanding our work to provide support and guidance to youth in the community. We are thrilled about this important partnership with CAAM," says Nisha Thapa, Co-founder and President, Sahayeta.