SeattleAntifreeze: Through his lens

THROUGH HIS LENS, #SeattleAntifreeze, pt. 45 Growing up nowadays is rough -- the pressures and traumas kids experience seem to get more and more serious. Often, adults want to protect children--but some kids have discovered the strength to cope -- within themselves. They're doing it, with the help of a Seattle filmmaker used to working with the stars. WHAT DO YOU DO-- Danielle: I did this one right here with scissors WHEN A CHILD TELLS YOU-- Jonathan: If I could have it any other way, I'd have a girlfriend. I HATE being gay ABOUT THEIR PAIN-- Jade It got so bad all. i could do was take drugs Danielle It was molestation RICK STEVENSON DOESN'T SAY MUCH Rick Stevenson/Filmmaker: I'm just asking questions AND THE ANSWERS HAVE BECOME HIS LIFE'S WORK. Rick: I actually feel like we have saved lives. THE INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER HAS COLLABORATED WITH THE LIKES OF ROBERT REDFORD BUT THE STARS IN HIS CURRENT, MOST ENDURING PROJECT ARE OTHERWISE ANONYMOUS KIDS. Rick: The entire series of stories is about the gauntlet of adolescence THE SERIES IS "SCHOOL OF LIFE." Rick: I started interviewing kids once a year in hopes of helping them find their stories. Danielle: I have high hopes for myself RICK TALKED ANNUALLY TO DOZENS OF KIDS LIKE "DANIELLE" OVER 13 YEARS GETTING THEM TO EXAMINE WHO THEY ARE Danielle: I really, really want to be a teacher for the mentally disabled. I think it would be the funnest thing on earth RICK SHOWED RESPECT, HE GOT CANDOR IN RETURN. THE CHANGES HE WITNESSED EACH YEAR COULD BE DEVASTATING Danielle: That one right there with a knife Rick: When you cut, why do you cut? Danielle: To relieve pain I couldn't tell anybody. To relieve pain I couldn't tell myself Rick: The first five years I would come home and cry. MML: Really? Rick: Some of the things that I heard and hear every day are devastating Danielle: He looked at me, and he locked that door. He did things to me. I feel guilty that I didn't do enough to stop it. I didn't fight enough STORIES HARD TO HEAR - BUT NECESSARY TO TELL. Danielle: It's really painful to think about, but I'm starting to get over it. Rick: They get to take it out of the dark chamber - hold it up and look at it, and know it's not that bad. I can deal with it. I can move on. Danielle:I feel like, if I talk about it - if I talk about it, I'm not alone. Rick: The world around you is divided between people that are victims and live life as victims, and people that realize they are the authors of their own story - and they write a new chapter every da. AND HIS LENS IS THEIR PAPER AND INK. Danielle: I'm graduating this year. THE BENEFITS OF THE "SCHOOL OF LIFE" PROJECT WERE SO OBVIOUS TO EDUCATORS AND PARENTS-- ((nats)) MORE THAN 250 NEW KIDS HAVE SIGNED UP. FROM GRADE SCHOOL -- TO HIGH SCHOOL. ALL BENEFITING FROM THE "SCHOOL OF LIFE" Rick: Having a process that can help kids find themselves before they lose themselves OR REDISCOVER THE SELVES THEY THOUGHT THEY LOST Danielle: Now I'm a para-educator in the medically fragile students' classroom. AND THIS FILMMAKER HAS DISCOVERED HIS MOST SATISFYING WORK -- Rick: You know when you hit your life's work - you just know it. IT COMES WHEN HE HELPS SOMEONE ELSE WRITE THE SCRIPT Rick: What are you grateful for? Danielle: I'm grateful for life. Rick: It feels great, it feels great.

Posted by Monique Ming Laven on Saturday, June 4, 2016