LAND O\u2019 LAKES \u2014 Fiore Smetana and Dominic Bellino are award-winning filmmakers. They\u2019re also just in seventh grade.<\/p>\n
It may have been a project for their social studies class, but the two Rushe Middle students’ film \u2014 \u201cThe Civil Rights Movement \u2013 A Journey to Equality: An Ever-going Fight\u201d \u2014 won honorable mention in C-SPAN\u2019s annual StudentCam documentary competition. The competition asked the contestants to \u201cExplore the American Story through the Declaration of Independence\u201d in honor of \u201cAmerica\u2019s 250th Anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coincidentally, the prize netted the duo a $250 prize.<\/p>\n
And placed them among the hundreds of winners from the 1,800 documentary submissions from nearly 4,000 students representing 38 states.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project was based on what we learned on the Civil Rights Movement and basically, the unfairness that people have gone through,\u201d Smetana said. \u201cAnd we learned that it wasn\u2019t just African Americans fighting (for rights). There were white people supporting the movement and helping how they could.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe learned it wasn\u2019t just white vs. black.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just found out,\u201d Bellino added, \u201cwhich was really surprising, because mainly what we talk about in class is just that white people were 100% against other races, but it was also interesting to learn that other races were also against themselves. It was interesting to learn new information like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
While under the guidance and studies of their teacher Anthony Engel, the filmmakers had to choose a key moment from America\u2019s 250-year history and create a 5- to 6-minute documentary that explores its enduring impact. Smetana and Bellino\u2019s documentary included clips from previous examinations of the Civil Rights and Black movements, interview clips with a renowned African American History professor and director of the Civil Rights Institute, historical photos and other documents from Black and Civil Rights history, Black music and narration spoken and written by the duo.<\/p>\n
\u201cFiore and Dominic work very well together and have worked together on past projects,\u201d Engel told the Land O\u2019 Lakes Beacon. \u201cThey each have their strengths and they complement each other. The students were aware that this is a national competition and winning an award would be difficult. Our school is extremely proud of all of our students who entered.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to a press release from C-SPAN, contestants in \u201cthis highly competitive national program\u201d join \u201ca distinguished group of civically engaged young filmmakers whose work contributes to a deeper public understanding of America\u2019s founding principles and their continued relevance today.\u201d<\/p>\n
C-SPAN is funded by America\u2019s cable, satellite and streaming television companies as a commercial-free public service. In Land O\u2019 Lakes, C-SPAN is available through Spectrum, the local partner of StudentCam.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach year, C-SPAN\u2019s StudentCam competition demonstrates that the next generation is not only studying history \u2014 they\u2019re engaging with it and applying it to the world around them,\u201d Adam Falk, senior vice president of state government affairs for Spectrum said in a release. \u201cWe commend the creativity of this year\u2019s winners, who examined the enduring power and relevance of the Declaration of Independence at a pivotal moment as our nation celebrates its 250th anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to C-SPAN, \u201cThemes of Equality\u201d was the most frequently addressed topic in the documentary, with \u201cRights and Freedoms\u201d in second.<\/p>\n
Smetana and Bellino agreed, when starting the project, that the Civil Rights Movement was easily one of the most impactful events, one that was even more contemporary than some other choices. And after this win, they plan to partner again, as well as submit the entry, for another documentary on another topic when they\u2019re in eighth grade.<\/p>\n
For now, they\u2019ll enjoy the recognition for their hard work \u2014 if not also the cash prize.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think maybe I\u2019ll invest it,\u201d Smetana said thoughtfully.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m gonna put most of it in the bank,\u201d Bellino added confidently, \u201cthen 25 bucks for pocket money.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAND O\u2019 LAKES \u2014 Fiore Smetana and Dominic Bellino are award-winning filmmakers. They\u2019re also just in seventh grade.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[54665,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-213004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-land-o","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}