Speaking Through Their Own Lens

BY SHANNON HOLBROOK

Hannah Adams is very good at detecting that spark behind an Appalachian Media Institute (AMI) intern’s eyes. Sometimes it’s obvious, like when they can hardly contain their fervor for a new idea. Their eyes widen in disbelief and excitement; like a child opening an unexpected Christmas gift. Sometimes it’s hidden, behind years of conditioned mistrust. It starts to appear once they find that this is a safe space to be themselves.

Adams knows because she felt this spark during her first summer at AMI in 2017. A Letcher County, Kentucky, native, she was struggling to decide if she wanted to follow many other local women and enter the medical field. Like many young Appalachians, she didn’t know what she wanted because she hadn’t been exposed to much.

She credits one of her mentors, Appalshop’s Director of Films, Willa Johnson, whose experience mirrored her own.

Johnson introduced her to AMI, the brainchild of multi-media arts nonprofit Appalshop, in Whitesburg, Kentucky, which was created 34 years ago to teach Appalachian youth media production skills.

“Every summer we provide paid training to 10-14 regional youth in place-based documentary media-making, creative professional development, and entrepreneurship,” said Johnson of the six to eight-week program now directed by Adams, AMI’s lead educator.

Interns aged 14-22 from diverse backgrounds collaborate on documentaries exploring local community issues, providing their own unique perspective. Applications open in late spring, and no experience is required.

“To me, one of the most important things they learn is how to disagree with someone without isolating or insulting them,” Johnson said.

The program is college-accredited, with 80 percent of participants continuing to college. “We meet students where they are, host screenings, and bring young filmmakers with us to network at colleges,” she said.

“[It's amazing] what this program can do, especially for women. You're either going to be a nurse, a teacher, or a stay-at-home wife; those are the career paths the public schools push here,” Johnson said. “Hannah was one of my students who was passionate about films and media. Getting to hire her and see her flourish shows we can have more jobs and more opportunities here if we try something new.”

Our youth need to be the storytellers; people need to see it from their lens.

— Hannah Adams

“It feels like it’s come full circle,” Adams said. “This completely changed the course of my life.”

Johnson now helps students become professionally funded filmmakers as Appalshop filmmakers retire.

“Storytelling is everywhere; I didn’t have to leave my hometown to do it,” Johnson noted. “Our youth need to be the storytellers; people need to see it from their lens.”

For more information, visit www.amiappalshop.org.

AMI’s 2021 Summer Documentary Institute was a unique hybrid model of virtual and in-person sessions due to the pandemic.