Video | My Neighborhood: Pilsen
Video
Watch the documentary My Neighborhood: Pilsen, explore digital shorts, and watch videos created by Chicago high school students.
The Documentary
Digital Exclusives
A selection of digital shorts produced for the My Neighborhood: Pilsen initiative.
Student Films
As part of the My Neighborhood: Pilsen initiative and in partnership with Chicago Public Schools and buildOn, a service-learning organization that works with Chicago youth, WTTW launched a neighborhood-focused video production initiative for teens.
High school students in Pilsen, Little Village, Englewood, Humboldt Park, and Edgewater worked in small groups to produce short documentaries on positive forces in their neighborhoods. Their finished work was presented in May 2017 at a youth film festival at Benito Juarez Community Academy in Pilsen, where WTTW and Caerus Foundation announced that each of the 14 participating teams would receive college scholarship prizes. Those prizes ranged from $500 to $4,000 per team.
Watch their inspiring films below, and learn more about the winning filmmakers.
Inspiration Café
Producers: Adana Hadzalic, Kameha Spearman, Symone Smith (Nicholas Senn High School).
Inspiration Café is the story of an organization in the Uptown Neighborhood of Chicago that is helping the homeless with jobs and job training.
Open Doors
Producers: Sanjuana Rangel-Garcia, Yoalix Melendez, Denise Navarrate (Benito Juarez High School).
BuildOn students volunteer their time every Tuesday at the St. Pius food pantry. These students are serving their community by supplying families that are in need with food to last them up to a month.
Little Village
Producers: Marilyn Flores Ortiz, Gianna Lightfoot (Yolocalli Arts Outreach).
This film highlights the local and fresh cuisine of the Little Village neighborhood.
Project Elevate
Producer: Jadah Keith (Whiney M. Young Magnet High School).
A three-year project funded by the CDC Community Approaches to Reducing Sexually Transmitted Diseases (CARS) initiative to support the planning, implementation and evaluation of interdisciplinary interventions to promote community sexual health.
The Broadway Armory
Producers: Kamryn Fleenor, Kayla Williams (Nicholas Senn High School).
The Broadway Armory, one of the busiest park districts, showcases all that the Chicago Park District has been doing in their neighborhood for many years.
The Puerto Rican Arts and Culture Museum
Producers: Joseph Hernandez, Socorro Ornelas, Cynthia Rosado, Jalen Kerney (Roberto Clemente High School).
The Puerto Rican Arts and Culture Museum has been in the Humboldt Park Neighborhood since 2000 and draws people from all over the country to learn about Puerto Rican culture.
City Colleges of Chicago
Producers: Ashanti Andrews, Niambi Steeele (Whiney M. Young Magnet High School).
City Colleges gives students access to a quality education and ensures their success by providing them with the support to complete their program and move on to further education or a career.
A Cause for Paws
Producers: Nabeel Siddiqui, Maryan Abdi, Philip Johnson-White, Paula Trejo (Nicholas Senn High School).
After realizing the overwhelming number of adoptable dogs and cats losing their lives in shelters due to a lack of resources and adopters, Felines & Canines took action to help local animals find new homes.
Lin Manuel
Producers: Tiondra Vinson, Fabiola Martinez, Ayleen Flores, Alexzander Ramirez (Roberto Clemente High School).
An interview with Lin Manuel Miranda, playwright, composer and actor.
The My Neighborhood Project was launched with major catalyst funding from:
