I really liked getting to put together this project. The medium of filmmaking is not something I have been super familiar with so I found myself really inspired to create something with passion. For my documentary, I really focused on honing in on something super specific to me, and sort of zooming out to see how that is important within the wider context of the world. Dance is something that is really important to me, and something I would love to share with people. However, in a broader sense, access to what I love is being limited. The point that I want to get across is how important it is to keep funding for the arts. By telling my own personal story, I am able to hopefully personally connect with the viewer and make them realize that this is an issue that really does impact people on a personal level. I was originally struggling with the idea of thinking my story didn’t matter because it is not unique. After all, many young girls in the United States take up dance at a young age. However, I think the way that my story is both personal and shared reinforces the importance of my point. I chose to use personal photos because they really tell their own stories. The photos show me as a kid, but clearly one who is dedicated to something bigger than herself. I think that that is reflective of my creation of this film. I also felt that it was really critical to use real facts from this year about how the arts have been defunded and how that has already had an impact. I aimed to seamlessly weave between my own story and the story of what the Trump administration is doing in order to paint a picture connecting the two inextricably. While it seems like what the government does is so major and broad, it trickles down quickly. I think I was able to achieve this effect to a certain extent through showing my experiences in the arts in a way that is familiar to many.
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