Students screen “The City as Character” at Northwest Film Forum

On August 23, 2020, students from IAS faculty member Minda Martin‘s class, “The City as Character Vol. 2,” screened their work in an online event hosted by the Northwest Film Forum, and streamed live on their webpage and on Facebook. The course (BISMCS 343) is partnered with Seattle Municipal Archives and Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS) and requires students to work with the archives to tell stories about specific issues in Seattle from more than 50 years ago and connect it to the present. Some of these topics that surfaced are police accountability, attitudes towards waste, low income housing, LGBTQ discrimination, bicycling, and freeway bridges.

Despite the challenges of the current environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic (limiting access to media equipment and labs), students produced complex and dynamic work. The screenings are viewable online and were followed by a live Zoom Q&A between students and community partners, facilitated by Martin along with community partners Anne Frantilla (Seattle Municipal Archives) and Libby Hopfauf (MIPoPS).