The results of the “Europe and Me” call!
We have already talked about it these days, but we want to tell you more about the results of the Europe and Me call of the Yomem – Young Messengers of European Memory project, which just ended during the Eutopia final event in Rome last week.
The finalist stories
Here are the finalist stories, the full motivations of the jury and links to the stories directly from the StoryAp portal, where they were collected and published.
“The Europe I would like” by Agnese Vender – Cemea – Italy (Digital Storytelling)
“The Europe I would like”, by Agnese Vender has been chosen by the Italian Federation of CEMEA as the winning video of the YoMem Award, because it adds a new point of view to a narrative that represents the whole of Russia as the enemy, creating a powerful distortion in the combine images of Russia with describing Europe, in what today seems like an oxymoron that brings out the contrast between the physical boundaries of a territory and the ideal ones of a sharing of values.
The author uses simple technical means, but there is always rhythm and density of narration and the theme of the multiple identity – national and European, perhaps global – touched upon in the video, is representative of a feeling shared by many people.
Watch the story, told with Digital Storytelling methodology:
https://www.storyap.eu/leuropa-che-vorrei/
“My Europe” by Yumna Khattab – Mobilizing Expertise – Sweden (Writing)
Europe as she identified that Sweden is her Europe and her Identity.
While her story of fleeing from war was not original It was heartfelt, emotional and a personal account of her experiences and her identity.
All the jurors were moved and was ressonated by her ability to overcome her struggles and
enjoyed her idea of identity where she stated that your identity is not just connected to where you were born.
Seeing as all the jurors are multicultural and could identify very strongly with her statement.
We also felt that this story could have a huge impact with other migrants and provide support and
hope for better possibilities in the integration process.
Read the story written by Yumna:
https://www.storyap.eu/?s=Yumna+Khattab
“Alice et Denis” by Alice Pernot and Denis Massard – M3Cube – France (Video Narration)
The topic of the video totally reflects the topic of the project because it’s a discussion between two generations and their understanding of the forms of engagement in Europe.
The discussion was very fluid and interactive with good retries and questions.
The interview was more an intergenerational exchange and a discussion between two persons (a young person and an older one) than a proper interview with interviewer and interviewee.
They discussed the forms of commitment in Europe and its evolution during the last decades with the change of approaches and also hot topics that implied these changes.
The attentive listening and complicity between both was also very appreciated by the jury.
The discussion about news and subjects very interesting for the majority of the society like ecology and the fact that the younger generations are involved in this topic and are taking strong positions on it.
This is very positive and the message appears as very promising for the future.
Watch the full video here:
https://www.storyap.eu/alice-et-denis/
“Our Europe, our rights” by Andreea Ioana Popescu, Georgiana Postelnicu, Cristina Aurelia Bostan, Madalina Stanescu – Asociatia ProXpert – Romania (Participatory Video)
The movie is focused on the ”My Europe” topic but on a different approach – our expectations from the European Union but also our contribution to the European Union.
It is based on interviews with three different categories: young students, teachers and retired persons.
It reflects some stereotypes and ”Euromyths” that still exist in Romanian society and includes an important documentary part that brings valuable information about the European Union’s policies and programmes.
The 4 authors took part in one of the 4 workshops on digital storytelling and participatory video organised by ProXpert and we monitored them during the whole process.
They developed genuine team work in all stages of the process (creation of the screenplay, drawing the storyboard, taking interviews, recording, editing). I
We really appreciated the research behind this video, the information added after each
interview.
The whole movie could be a very good didactic material to be used by teachers during different
classes (for example civic education, history etc.) so we appreciated that the movie has the biggest impact on students, particularly 12-18 years old.
Watch the full video here:
https://www.storyap.eu/our-europe-our-rights/
“Hatem’s story” by Nhel Castagnetta – Storie di Mondi Possibili – Italy (Video Narration)
The story of Hatem receives the first prize from Storie di Mondi Possibili because it tells about new forms of sociality in Europe and does so with grace and firmness.
Hatem is not European by birth, but he has lived in Rome since the 1970s, where he works as a translator and interpreter from Arabic.
His experience as a farmer in the gardens of Garbatella, a district of the capital, is significant
because the garden becomes an opportunity to create new forms of sociality, overcoming generational, social class and cultural barriers.
Urban gardens are now an important phenomenon in Europe, so this story is strongly representative of a possible social change.
The story of Hatem speaks of a lived, non-theoretical Europe, made of hospitality, of land to
cultivate, of practical things where you have to agree and collaborate.
Listening to his words makes us think that we would like a Europe like this, where hard work makes sense because it conquers space, unites people, produces fruit, creates communion of
responsibility, produces positive changes.
Watch the full video here:
https://www.storyap.eu/it/la-storia-di-hatem/
“My expectations” by Katie Evans – Real time video – UK (Video Narration)
Katies film explores what young people can learn through exchanges with other countries.
Using a simple interview style approach,Katie explores how experiencing another culture can challenge preconceived ideas and have a positive impact on how young people view other cultures.
It promotes the value of cultural exchange and the the importance for young people to gain a wider understanding of Europe its heritage and the wide variety of societies and people.
The UK Jury felt Katies film closely matched the theme of the award and used personal experience to clearly and powerfully produce an impactful story that would resonate with the
audience.
Watch the full video here:
https://www.storyap.eu/my-expectations
“Europa Fantasy” by Adrianna Wojcieszak – STOP – Poland (Illustration and writing)
Adrianna talks about current events in an interesting way.
The metaphors he uses are accurate and help to understand events that, due to the nature of the situation, are difficult to deal with. Adrianna’s story is a story of hope in difficult times and as such can meet the needs of those who feel lost or overwhelmed by events.
Read the story created by Adrianna:
https://www.storyap.eu/europa-fantasy/
The Europe and Me call is officially closed, but you can still contribute to the StoryAp archive!
You can create your own account on the portal and upload your story too, in text, photo or video format.
Go to www.storyap.eu!