MATTERS OF RACE

PBS - ROJA Productions, Orlando Bagwell and Missing Pixel, Michelle Halsell

Prototype Technology: DVD-ROM with Windows Media 9

The MATTERS OF RACE DVD-ROM provokes self-exploration and empowers youth to realize and document their perspectives about identity. The Identity Quest Game is patterned after "EveryOther," a "mockumentary" portion of the fourth film named after the main character. As EveryOther awakens in her room to confront a reflection of herself in a mirror, the enhanced "EveryOther" film poses a series of yes/no questions that parallel her experience. Participation in the enhanced "EveryOther" unlocks the three contiguous gaming activities, "My Room," "My Census," and "My World," each building on the previous activity. Ultimately, a stereotype is assumed and returned to students in the form of a caricature. The caricature lives out a scenario that challenges the personal and political implications of that stereotypical identity.

The Film Festival challenges students to make their own three-minute identity videos that are creative and bold. The shorts encourage students to take a more critical look at the multiple elements that inform one's identity, and will be shared with other students and classes via the Internet.

Credits: AFI: ROJA Productions: Missing Pixel: Microsoft: SyncCast: Kentro Media: PlaygroundLA