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Dillon Paul and Flushing International High School
About Dillon Paul and Flushing International High School
Flushing International High School is one of 14 schools in the International Network of Public Schools. Composed entirely of English Language Learners, our students represent almost 40 different countries and speak 20 different languages. As a Media Arts teacher, Dillon Paul provides youth with the tools to create socially-engaged media that speaks to their experiences and ideas about the world. This video was created by FIHS students and alumni under her guidance.
Production Company
Produced by the FIHS Gay-Straight Alliance
Why did you answer the Lab's open call?
Seniors Jean Franco Vergaray and Osbani Garcia launched the school’s Gay Straight Alliance to promote equality for LGBTQ students in 2008. When Paul saw the Lab’s open call, it seemed a perfect forum to bring their message to the world. We created the video with the help of talented individuals outside the school and a wonderful team of current seniors. We believe that it is the bravest act to be your true self, and hope that the video will support youth in expressing their layered identities.
Tell us about the first time you made a video or film
In 2009, when Jean Franco Vergaray was a high school senior, he wrote and directed a short film titled “That’s so Straight”, a dramatic tale of a young woman who comes out as a lesbian in her English class. The film accompanied the “That’s so Straight” campaign by the GSA to confront the derogatory refrains, “that’s so gay” or “that’s so queer,” so often heard in schools.
Would you like to tell us your plans for your new prize?
With the prize money, we plan to launch a school-based video production team to support collaborative media production among students and alumni.
Exclusive Corporate Funding for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is provided by Liberty Mutual.
Major funding provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Additional funding for Stonewall Uprising provided by the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation Inc., Ms. Susan B. Kaplan and Nancy and Mark Belsky, Brian A. McCarthy Foundation, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Public Television Viewers. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is produced for PBS by WGBH Boston.
