Southwest High student's documentary wins national honors

Southwest High School senior Morgan Wilcock's film "This Gay and Age" won the Best Documentary Award in the 2011 Project VoiceScape Award competition, which promotes the work of aspiring documentarians, ages 14 to 19.

Wilcock, and two other teen filmmakers, honored at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., last week during a reception hosted by journalist Gwen Ifill and PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger. The three winners were the best of 15 finalists, who each received a $2,000 grant and mentoring from a professional filmmaker for their project; 240 students competed for the national honor.

"I wanted to expose the human side of the teens featured in my film – being gay or lesbian does not define who they are, even though popular culture often creates this illusion," Wilcock said.

Wilcock interviewed students from several Minnesota high schools and gay rights activist Tammy Aaberg for the nearly 19-minute film, which garnered praise from judges for its "sophisticated and multi-layered approach, and innovative blend of personal filmmaking that also addresses a broader social issue." Sundance award-winning director Natalia Amada served as Wilcock's mentor.

This week, Wilcock, a senior at Southwest, answered several questions from the Star Tribune about her work and goals. Several of her responses were edited for length:

Q. What piqued your interest in this subject?

A. As a teen filmmaker, I wanted to focus on an issue that concerned my generation in particular. Simply being in high school nowadays ensures vast exposure to gay and lesbian subject matter – everyday, I am inundated with television programs, political movements, human rights campaigns, and angst-ridden discussions in the halls that have something to do with homosexuality. The problem is that there is hardly any middle ground – it seems as though popular media and high schools either embrace the gay community or reject it entirely. As I say in the film, my generation is disoriented in a haze of sexual confusion. My documentary attempts to look past the wide array of stereotypes and expectations and unveil the reality for adolescent gays in high school.

Q. How did you select the students featured in your documentary?

A. One of the greatest challenges I encountered was finding interview subjects, which came as a shock to me, since I have always assumed that my hometown of Minneapolis was especially gay-friendly. I emailed many local organizations and high schools, hung fliers, and spoke with representatives at Twin Cities Pride looking for students to participate, yet surprisingly, received almost no response. The students who ended up in the film seemed to come to me.

Q. Tell me more about the filmmaking process. What type of equipment did you use? How long did it take to produce the film? Were there any challenges in completing the work?

A. I used a Canon Vixa HF200 camcorder, which I received a few years ago as a gift from my mother, to film the entire project. With the grant money provided by Project Voicescape, I purchased an external microphone and tripod for my camera. I edited the project using Final Cut 7. Though I never did have access to state of the art equipment, I got used to the fact that I was an amateur filmmaker, and that this was my first professional work. I often had to make do with footage that was poorly lit or almost incomprehensible due to background noise. Because I had such a hard time finding interviews, I got a late start compiling the footage, and had to give up entire weeks to sit in front of the computer and edit (day and night) before each rough cut was due. Altogether, it took about three months –my entire summer—to complete a film that lasts under twenty minutes. I did not hang out with friends or go to the beach as much as I have in the past, but I have no regrets – the hard work paid off.

Q. Have you done other films? What's your next project?

A. This project was my first and only professional work to date. All my other films have been short comedy sketches or school projects. I made my first film in the fifth grade, about a socially peculiar girl who was abnormally self-assured. I have always used film as a means of comedic expression, probably because I freeze up in front of groups but not behind a camera. I am filming short cut scenes for an original comedy play I am helping direct at my high school. As for my next documentary, I do not know what is in store, though I'd like to get started sooner than later.

Q. What have you learned from this experience?

A. I learned a great deal about the filmmaking process – how to budget my time, how to use only my strongest footage and cut the rest, and how to take criticism while maintaining my own style. More importantly, however, I learned how to assert my voice. Growing up, I have always felt shy – I struggle to speak in front of a classroom, let alone in public about a broad social issue. For the first time in my life, I feel that my voice has resonated on a large scale, thanks to this opportunity and my emergence to be an independent filmmaker. I now believe that adolescents – and adults, for that matter – who struggle with public speaking always have a means of voicing an opinion about broad concerns, though it might have nothing to do with a podium and a microphone.