What Covid-19 Teaches Us: Girls’ Voices Films Capture the Pandemic

Girls' Voices People COVID-19

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Girls’ Voices launched two online platforms for girls everywhere to express themselves and bring their vision to life through video. We opened the Girls’ Voices at Home video challenges for all, and at the same time created a more in-depth community platform, Girls’ Voices Movement, designed to be as close to the Girls’ Voices in-person experience as possible.

In the Girls’ Voices Movement, girls are guided by women filmmakers and photographers to tell a story that matters to them. A core element of the Girls’ Voices program is for us to listen closely to one another’s stories and offer supportive feedback. While connecting online is never the same as being together, we looked for ways to make that connection as personal as possible, sharing feedback on the platform and checking in through “story circles” over Zoom. 

Our First Cohort of Filmmakers

Each of the girls in our first Girls’ Voices Movement cohort created videos with depth, heart and exquisite imagery, capturing the challenges, angst and hope during this historic time. Girls joined from around the world — from Uganda, Brazil, Argentina and across the United States.

For their first projects, we asked girls to share how they were feeling and what they were experiencing during the pandemic. Their videos moved beyond the crisis, to questions about how we can support one another, what we can build after this experience, how we develop our own resilience and how we can create art and beauty no matter what we are going through. In the end, to quote Lorena from Argentina — “El Covid es Mi Maestro,” — through this experience, we all learned how COVID-19 has become our teacher. 

Check out our Trailblazer Cohort’s videos and see this new (hopefully temporary) world through their eyes!

From Inside by Cata

With beautiful artistry, Cata from Buenos Aires, Argentina, shares the passage of time, some fears she has, and what keeps her grounded during this global pandemic. Her strong voice invokes the viewer to engage in important questions she poses in the end — what will we build from here?

Painting My Picture by Anabel

Anabel from Tucson, Arizona, explores how creativity can help one get through tough times in her first short film. She interviewed her family and shared her perspective on art.

“I really learned how to take a conceptual idea and turn that idea into a video. [I] learned a lot about carrying a story, narration and how to share my story through art in general and how to properly carry narration throughout,” Anabel said after the workshop.

Where Will You Be  by Loyce

From Northern Uganda, Loyce also made her first film and was determined to explore the dangers of peer pressure that girls could face during the pandemic. Loyce’s video raises awareness about how girls can be particularly vulnerable during the pandemic.

 

Empty Lives by Maria Luiza

Maria Luiza, from Brazil, brilliantly captures the mood of the pandemic with imagery taken just before shelter-in-place orders began. She shares how the pandemic has affected her city, at once so full of movement and transience. Her resilience stems from knowing that girls everywhere can lean on each other to fight for better opportunities.

Intencionales by Maura

Maura, from Argentina, made this breathtaking video to encourage us to make the most of this time, to bear witness to all of the beauty that surrounds us.

El Covid ea Mi Maestro by Lorena

Lorena shares her experience being in quarantine in her fun and creative video diary. She shows us the different things she has learned during this pandemic and reminds us to focus on the good around us.

We are so proud of our Trailblazer Cohort for giving their all to our first online filmmaking workshops, connecting so well, and for beautifully documenting this historic time.

These are just a few of the videos our girls created in the past month. To watch even more stories of resilience and resourcefulness, view the full playlist here!

Interested in joining Girls’ Voices Movement? Send us an email to learn more and register you for the next filmmaking course!