Sambūris–
“a gathering”. For Boston-area Lithuanian youth, this dance team
is a gathering binding them to heritage and to each other.
Shortly
after hearing about this scholarship, I saw Sambūris perform at a
festival. The dancers' youth and energy made me wonder: how does this
fit within the rest of their lives? As I scrambled to film their
final performance of the spring, our encounter outside the film frame
unearthed a deeper idea – how “Lithuanianized” these youth are
compared to their peers in an increasingly Americanized homeland.
Ten
years of rural life and education in Maine culminated in a set of
agricultural outreach video projects. Now, I'm urbanizing in search
of new creative opportunities. Fascinated with how people relate to
each other and to earth, film is the best way I can find to engage it
all. I hope to explore the hardships of migrant farm workers, and the
politics and philosophies that mediate between people and land. With
more technical knowledge and a learning experience like Arnhem Land
under my belt, I'd like to return to Turkey, where I spent part of
2010, to document tensions between hydroelectric development and
traditional livelihoods along the Çoruh River.
