SALISBURY — The May 14 Salisbury Forum is called “The Constitution in Our Midst,� and will feature two documentary films created by Housatonic Valley Regional High School students.
The screening of the two short films will be followed by a discussion with the student filmmakers.
The students were asked to examine a constitutional issue in their documentaries for a class in Media Studies at Housatonic taught by John Duval. Some students did independent films, but two groups chose to do a team effort.
They worked with Global Village Media award-winning filmmakers Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur — who are Cornwall residents and parents of a Housatonic student — and guest educators including writers, cinematographers and editors to make their films (which are both under 15 minutes long).
The films were prepared for The Connecticut Project for the Constitution’s (CPC) Video Documentary Initiative.
CPC was founded by Todd Brewster, an award-winning journalist and constitutional scholar, who has also been a Salisbury Forum presenter; and Harold Schramm, professor emeritus of constitutional law at Western Connecticut State University. The group’s goal is to use the U.S. Constitution as a platform to engage the public in dialogue on major issues in the 21st century.
“The documentaries provide a terrific opportunity for townspeople to come together, learn about and share ideas of mutual concern,� Lasseur said.
One film titled “The No Speech Zone,� is about President Obama’s televised speech to returning students last fall — and the controversy about students watching it during school hours. The group that made this film included students Zach Ackerman, Elizabeth Cuoco, Tyler Gelbar, Emma Osborne, Kayla Robinson, Dylan Morehouse and Justin Taylor.
“We just saw it as two sides fighting,� said Tyler Gelbar. “The Democrats versus the Republicans. The right versus the left.�
But what struck the students most forcefully was that the discussion played out almost exclusively among adults in the community.
“No one ever asked our opinion,� Cuoco said.
“The D-Word,� a film based on student freedom of speech in and out of the classroom, was created by Madelaine Bamberry, Steven Bartomioli, Bill Bunce, Alyse Couture, Nick Dignacco, Trey Hatcher and Ryan King.
This film used the case of Avery Doninger versus Lewis S. Mills High School to dissect the controversy of what children should, or should not, be allowed to say, or express, in and out of school.
Doninger sued her school district after she was asked to step down from positions of responsibility in several student organizations after she posted derogatory comments about the superintendent on her personal blog on the Internet.
The Salisbury Forum begins at 7:30 p.m. on May 14 at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. There is no admission fee.
