"Youth: It's Your Future" (English)

This Public Service Announcement, created by Farah Hourani, a talented fifteen-year old Jordanian girl, urges youth to overcome convention and pressures of parents and society telling them who they should be (what career to have or to run a family business, etc.). They should break the mold and choose the future for themselves. The video moves between a teenaged girl and boy in a futuristic set trying to break free from the bonds around them. Voices come at them from off screen telling them what to be when they grow up. They struggle to free themselves. Suddenly, the mood changes, and the boy steps back from the cage- it melts and dissolves away. His bonds dissolve. He takes a piece of tape from his mouth and let's it fall to the floor. He is free. The girl then realized she is free also. They both appear at the bottom of a ladder and climb toward the sky together toward their dreams. The message comes on screen, "Raise your voice. It's your future." Farah is an intern at: Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Center (UJRC) www.ujrc-jordan.org

Music and sound design provided by Nabeel Bahy (of Kuwait)

Background:
This PSA was produced locally in Amman, Jordan as part of a media workshop, entitled "Media, Activism and Democracy," led by Barefoot Workshops in partnership with The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). twenty-six participants, mostly women and youth, learned how to write, shoot, produce and edit, thirty-second noncommercial videos (Public Service Announcements), to raise awareness about social issues. The goal of the workshops was to increase discussion, debate and civic participation in the Middle East. The PSAs are available in Arabic and English to broadcasters and other organizations that wish to distribute them "rights-free" on television and the Internet.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• media