Film Kick Off Event

2409 Crabtree Blvd,Raleigh NC 27603

14 October, 2023

Description

TOP OF THE WORLD -Gentrification Through the Eyes of Students. TOP OF THE WORLD is a place most TMT Mentees hold near to their heart. Nestled high in the sky, near some of Raleigh's tallest corporate buildings; students come here to dream. This is a place that inspires visions of the American dream and the new corporate package they may be offered upon graduation. A space where videos are shot. A place where students come just to get away. Where is this place you ask? TOP OF THE WORLD is a three story parking garage located one block from Shaw University. The TMT Youth Community Foundation would like to elevate the experiences of the students enrolled in our program. The primary focus of our organization is to expose and train youth of color living in vulnerable communities in S.T.E.A.M careers to prepare them for post secondary education and entrepreneurial success in our global economy. This year students will be challenged to create a docu-series called "TOP OF THE WORLD - Gentrification Through The Eyes of Students". TMT Film Festival is dedicated to presenting an array of relevant and engaging films addressing complex social issues and hardships. Our mission is to educate, inspire, engage and connect diverse people around common goals through the art of storytelling and filmmaking. TMT Film Festival benefits the TMT Youth Community Foundation whose mission is to create a global social entrepreneurial educational network system that delivers economic opportunities to impoverished communities. Filmed and produced by TMT Apprentices, this year's film kick-off event will highlight the local tech industry in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. We will showcase several short documentaries and narrative films that create positive self perceptions for African American youth. The foundation of these films work to elevate the research of Camille Cosby's book "Television's Imageable Influences" and Donald Bogle's book Primetime Blues, African Americans on Network Television. We aim to bring together people of different cultures and backgrounds in one place for the celebration of life, culture and diversity through our official selections of films. We strive to create a cradle to career atmosphere for young filmmakers and encourage positive images for social impact. Our mission is to empower lives by celebrating the power of media for social justice. This year's TMT Film Festival will showcase how the students can elevate in the Silicon Valley of the East. Documentary One: Silicon Valley The Triangle's involvement in IoT includes everything from hardware design to software, including software development and engineering. One of the big drivers of IoT in the area is healthcare, centered around the presence of big pharma companies like GlaxoSmithKline, which has facilities at RTP, as well as health research projects being carried out at area schools, notably the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Raleigh's NC State University, and Duke University in Durham. Jennifer Truman, NC State Graduate and Architect will help us peel back the layers of the Triangle to have guided discussions on the requirements to capitalize in this highly advanced market place. Sign up here if you would like to join our panel. Documentary Two: Build Capacity Our schools need help in reaching underserved communities and our kids need to know their community cares. According to the 2018-2019 Racial Equity Report Card issued by Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s, White students in grades 3-8 were 2.4X times more likely to score “Career and College Ready” on final exams than Black students. Black students were 7.4X times more likely than White students to receive a short-term suspension. 28.5% of all juvenile delinquency complaints in the County were school-related. This documentary will explore how the Silicon Valley of the East can build capacity against the Home/School/Prison Cycle. Two foundational concepts will be explored (1) Hypocrisy in Organizational Culture and (2) Internalized Oppression. Documentary Three: CyberBears in the Metaverse The Cyber Bears is a competition team comprised of high school students from different schools organized to participate in the FIRST® Robotics Competition. This competition combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. High school students use sophisticated technology to build and program industrial-size robots for a challenging field game of basketball. This part of our docu-series will explore how the African American community organizes and advocate for equity and inclusion in the Silicon Valley of the East.