Beginning in March 2010, Dance Theatre Etcetera facilitated a four-month process culminating in the completion of a professionally produced film by director Trac Minh Vu, entitled Rise Above. The program, based on 2008's successful Red Hook High (produced by Fusion Pictures), is a student-driven look into the life of urban teenagers and the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis. Rise Above was created during the The Scene to Screen: Film Intensive, a series of free Acting-for-film workshops (March-April).
These workshops, open to any Brooklyn resident age 14-21, taught youth participants to act for the camera. Participants in these workshops were then cast in the film, which was shot at various Brooklyn locations by a professional film crew in May 2010. Rise Above received its public preview for a packed house at DTE’s facility in Red Hook.
Educators who are interested in purchasing a DVD of Rise Above, and/or scheduling a screening and talk-back workshop, please contact DTE office at 718 643-6790 x111.
Photo: Students workshop a scene during the acting-for-film workshops (© Jon Mayer).
