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play africa: A Safe Space for Children

Promotional video for Play Africa, an NGO that is building a world-class children's museum in South Africa. This is one of a series of four videos based on Play Africa's philosophy: Inspiring Children. Strengthening Families. Transforming Communities.

where do i stand?

where do i stand?

When xenophobic attacks broke out across South Africa in 2008, many were shocked by violence that felt like a violation of the principles of their newly democratic nation. Where Do I Stand? is a window into the lives of seven young people thinking deeply about their actions during and after this violence. They include a Rwandan refugee, a girl wrestling with the reality of foreigners in her township, a boy facing calls of cowardice, a girl whose family sheltered their gardener. Where Do I Stand? captures the optimistic voices of youth carving out their own places in this complex and divided country.

Senator Bob Dole

former senator bob dole on childhood hunger

A short video for the Food Research Action Center about the history of former Senator Bob Dole's work on childhood hunger in the US. 

schools that work

schools that work

Mpumelelo Secondary School
Loskop, KwaZulu-Natal

Schools That Work is a 19-part series. of short videos  that aims to understand the key strategies and elements that are allowing schools in disadvantaged communities across South Africa to have academic success. The series was a collaboration with Professor Jonathan Jansen of the University of Stellenbosch and includes the book How to Fix South Africa's Schools: Lessons from Schools that Work

rise up for equity

rise up for equity: reclaiming the narrative in appalachia and the native american community

This video is part of a four part series Rise Up for Equity. It is one in a series of videos produced for the Institute for Educational Leadership that tell the stories of the powerful work that their partners are doing around the country. Topics include equity, leadership development, and diversity in schools. This video explores equity work in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school district in Ohio.

doj ncvrw

department of justice: national crime victims' rights week

Profile of Dawn Lomangino-DiMauro, head of  an anti-trafficking organization in New Jersey and 2018 honoree of the Crime Victims' Rights Award.

memory keepers

memory keepers

We are all shaped by the past. Using the story of the Jewish community of the small city of Sighet, Romania, Memory Keepers explores how different generations hold onto memory and continue to experience the tragedy of the Holocaust. When our histories are rooted in trauma, how do we reconcile the need to honor and remember the past, yet free ourselves as we create the future?

writing

our writing

how to fix south africa's schools:
lessons from schools that work

The South African government spends the biggest slice of its budget on education, more than any other African country. And yet the crisis persists. In How to Fix South Africa’s Schools: Lessons From Schools That Work, Jonathan Jansen, Distinguished Professor in Education at Stellenbosch University  and documentary filmmaker Molly Blank look at South African schools that work, in spite of adverse conditions – hunger, poverty, lack of resources and overcrowding, in both rural and urban environments – and have drawn out the practical strategies that make them successful.

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mail & guardian newspaper commentaries

During the filming of the Schools That Work video series, director Molly Blank wrote a series of commentaries for the Mail & Guardian, a national South African newspaper, chronicling and reflecting on her experience visiting under-resourced schools. The initial piece, from March 2013, was titled "The schools that defy the odds."  The follow up, "A capella moments in Katlehong," looked at two township schools outside Johannesburg. 

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