View the film “The Sound We See: A New Haven City Symphony”

The Sound We See: A New Haven City Symphony from Artspace New Haven on Vimeo.

The Sound We See: A New Haven City Symphony was created in the summer of 2019 as Artspace’s 19th annual Summer Apprenticeship Program.

This program gave twenty-two local teens, who are currently enrolled in one of New Haven’s Public High Schools, the opportunity to work together alongside Los Angeles based filmmakers Paolo Davanzo and Lisa Marr for three weeks in July 2019. The students embarked on the making of a city symphony, learning about the history of this fascinating genre and developing techniques for shooting and processing black and white film stock shot on handheld 16mm and Super 8 cameras. Together, they produced a 24-minute film that envisions a summer day in the life of New Haven.

Each student was responsible for recording and telling the story of one hour of the day, guided by their own intuitions, personal styles and perspectives. Analog filmmaking techniques and iconic works produced by Walter Ruttmann and Dziga Vertov in the 1920’s served as starting points for this exploration into the communal creative process and contemporary environment. Each student chose the site and subject of their hour, and learned how to edit the footage by hand into a one-minute film. Adding to the excitement of the “Slow Film” movement, the Lead Artists introduced students to eco-processing techniques, which replace harsh chemicals with locally sourced organic ingredients, and engender the film with a signature color and mood. In the final week of the program, these 24 one-minute films were stitched together and set to music, created by the participants themselves in conjunction with program mentors.

This program marks the nineteenth iteration of this global project, which has involved youth and multi-generational communities in Vietnam, India, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Russia, Japan and the United States. These films have been presented in public exhibitions in traditional and non-traditional venues, following the direction, hearts and discoveries of the communities who tell stories about place and being that are both imaginative and real, personal and collective.

Participating Apprentices: Syed Ardhi, Yareli Calderon, Jasmin Garcia, Isais Gaarzon, Sara Garzon, Pablo Giannotti, Sofiya Hafiz, Rayona Higgins, Nevaeh Hubbard, John Kalapala, Georgii Larkov, Genesis Maldonado, Daniel Matinez-Jimenez, Stella Martone, Evan Mir, Tyler Mitchell, Anthony Mitchell, Nagelly Oñate, Mabel Rooney, Alona Santiago, Natalie Semmel and Nelly Torres.
Program Mentors: Dyme Ellis, Emil Engstrom, Soledad Tejada, Emily Yue

Thanks to: Jack Adam, Shannon Biencowe, Sarah Fritchey, Hannah Glynn, Katie Jurkiewicz, Helen Kauder, Lisa Magson, Daniel Pizarro

The 2019 Summer Apprenticeship is made possible thanks to support from The Connecticut Office of the Arts, The Global Institute for Arts and Leadership, The Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation, The Jana Foundation, and Friends of Artspace. We are grateful to the Harvard Club of Southern Connecticut and Yale’s Yawkey Fellowship and Domestic Summer Award for their summer staff support. Thank you to G Bakery, Junzi, Claire’s Corner Copia, Wall Street Pizza, and Yorkside Pizza for fueling the students and to Airbnb host Truman Gilbert.