The first day you meet,              you are friends,
the next day you meet,
         you are brothers.  
               Afghan proverb

CINEMA_______________________________________________

The 17s Project is an exploration of the future predicted by teenagers and of the role imagination plays in people's lives.

Between 1998 and 2001, futures strategist and creative thinking teacher Lisa Morgan and photographer Caroline Parsons collaborated to gather the visionary predictions of 16-18 year olds around the world. 132 young people of 13 nationalities and of different socio-economic backgrounds took part.

Lisa ran workshops in which participants went on imaginary journeys to the future . They drew and described what they saw in their mind's eye. They also developed their ideas of an ideal world - for themselves and for humanity as a whole. Caroline documented the sessions on video.

Through these young people's inner thoughts about the future, we get a preview of the issues emerging in society . Some of the results of the project have been published as a book: VOICE in their own words Teenagers Predict the Future, in Japan and Taiwan. A video documentary was also produced called Voices From The Future.

In one of the workshop exercises, the young people pictured their ideal future coming true, a process which Lisa believes strengthens their ability to achieve their goals. Lisa and Caroline are planning to revisit these young people in the next 4 years to record how their lives have developed and which of their dreams have come true.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Voices From The Future is a documentary which explores the idea that we can 'see' the future by looking at the images in our minds.

Our imagination creates our experiences’. This is a basic principle of the self-help movement. Though it might make intuitive sense, it is not a view that is supported by most scientists. I wanted to find out if it could be demonstrated.

In 1998, I joined forces with photographer and videographer, Caroline Parsons, and we ran ‘The 17s Project’ for the next three years. We worked with over 130 teenagers of 14 nationalities, exploring their expectations of the future. I ran workshops in Shanghai, Sydney, Bangkok, Tokyo, London, in schools in Wales, woods in Japan and even in paddy fields in Bali. 

My approach was to use creative visualization. I showed teenagers how to uncover their unconscious expectations, by going on imaginary journeys to the future and observing the images that appeared in their minds’ eye. Caroline recorded their descriptions and drawings of these experiences on video. 

The 135 hours of material we collected covered the gamut – from personal lives to the future of the world. We heard predictions of floods in Thailand, urban warfare in Australia and, pre 9/11, saw drawings of New York, ‘annihilated.’ Other visions were more positive and domestic. We were told of marriage, births and successful careers.

From this material, a bilingual book, ‘Voice: in their own words, teenagers predict the future’ was published in Japan and Taiwan. We also produced Voices From The Future, a video documentary about the work.

The 17s Project is still a work in progress. The accuracy of the predictions can only be demonstrated by returning to the former teenagers and discovering what has happened to them since they first described their future.

Caroline Parsons and I are seeking a collaborating sponsor to support this return. The video material we have is unique and tantalizing. We would relish the opportunity to make history with it.

Lisa Morgan

CONNECT________________________________________

Contact filmmaker

Filmmakers: Caroline Parsons, Lisa Morgan

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CULTURE______________________________________

Culture info:
Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_japan
United Kingdom: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_united_kingdom
Korea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_korea

Get involved with these cross-cultural projects:
Japan: http://www.peaceboat.org/english/wtpb/index.html
UK: http://www.glencree.ie/
Korea: http://workingholiday.or.kr/working-eng/sub1_2.asp

CINEMA______________________________________

IN DEVELOPMENT

Vanishing Cultures, a documentary series

Exploring and preserving our cultural heritage

All over the world, indigenous people have faced extinction in the face of modern culture, and their unseen struggles continue to this day.  Society often fails to acknowledge the significance and value of these vanishing civilizations. As tribal elders die, their ancient knowledge and traditions are lost forever.

Today, roughly 300 million people, or five percent of the world’s population, still identify themselves as members of an indigenous culture¹, and the United Nations has recently declared the second “International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People”.  Still, most indigenous people are misunderstood, viewed either as idyllic societies living spiritual lives in tune with nature, or as primitive tribes standing in the way of progress.  In truth, neither is true.  In fact, indigenous people have had to adapt a great deal in order to survive, and are contemporary members of society. 

Still, most of these cultures are being pushed aside in today’s environment of rapid global change.  As each tribal culture dies out, we lose a piece of our collective humanity, from language to spiritual beliefs to the intimate knowledge of a specific environment.  “Vanishing Cultures” will seek out these unique cultures and bring forth each one’s individual vision of life.

From the San of Southern Africa to the Innu of North America to the Aborigines of Australia, “Vanishing Cultures” will showcase and celebrate the vast diversity of lifestyles and cultures that continue to persevere in the face of ever-encroaching modern society, and will provide an up-close-and-personal experience of the groups and individuals that make up our global family.

¹National Geographic, August 1999
WGA Registration #1091047

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CONNECT____________________________________

Contact filmmaker

FILMMAKER

BIO

Paula Ely has been involved in the entertainment industry since 1991, when she joined Carolco Television, the television production and syndication division of Carolco Pictures. Paula was involved in the sale and distribution of the Carolco and LIVE Entertainment libraries to the pay-per-view, cable, and free television markets before the company shuttered in 1993.  After consulting with Carolco on the sale of their library assets to the Worldvision company, Paula joined Jeff Kazmark, with whom she had worked at Carolco, to form Kazmark Entertainment Group, a firm created to create television advertising and programming trade opportunities in association with a major advertising agency and its media buying arm.   At Kazmark Entertainment, Paula oversees all of the company’s financial and personnel responsibilities and negotiates program acquisition agreements with leading production companies.   

Paula was an Executive Producer of a short film about the music of the Christmas season in Harlem entitled “Merry Christmas, Baby”, which has been entered into the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.  She also oversaw the creation of Springbok Films, a division of Kazmark Entertainment created in 2002, and line produced its first feature, “The Enigma With A Stigma”, an improvised comedy to be released in the summer of 2006. 

In 2003, Paula traveled to Botswana to produce the recently completed documentary “Vanishing Cultures: Bushmen of the Kalahari”, which is now playing on the festival circuit and is being distributed by Filmakers Library. The film was named “Best Documentary” at the Gulf Coast Film & Video Festival, and Paula received the “Best Producer” award at the La Femme Film Festival.  She plans to continue the series on other endangered cultures around the world.

She has also long been involved in community service, and received the Volunteer of the Year award in 2004 from PAWS/LA, an organization working to keep people with debilitating illnesses together with their companion animals. Paula also produced and directed PAWS/LA’s showcase and fundraising video in 2006. She has also taught as a volunteer adult literacy tutor with the Los Angeles Public Library literacy program and has worked as a volunteer with service programs in Cartago, Costa Rica and Prampram, Ghana.  Paula has been recognized for her photography as well. She has been a featured artist in PAWS/LA’s annual fundraising art auction for the past two years, and was awarded an honorable mention in an international “decisive moment” competition by the renowned organization Women In Photography.

Paula’s latest project is in collaboration with Gretchen Wyler, former vice-president of the Humane Society of the United States, Hollywood Branch, and will focus on the issue of elephants in the zoo environment. 

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CULTURE______________________________________

Learn more about:

The San People and other indigenous cultures:

www.kalaharipeoples.org (The Kalahari People's Fund)
www.iwant2gohome.org (Kgeikani Kweni)
www.survival-international.org (Survival International)
www.landrightsfund.org (Indigenous Land Rights Fund)
www.tribaltrustfoundation.org (The Tribal Trust Foundation)

Cultures and their environment:
http://www.espmaya.org/
http://www.janegoodall.org/

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Culture Wrap is a non-profit media production organization focused
on films and projects that promote cross-cultural understanding and endorse intercultural partnerships.

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phone: +1 818 760 4406 -  e-mail: info@culturewrap.org

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