| Scandinavian Stories is a project that aims to explore Scandinavian cultural identity in a globalized world through digital storytelling workshops for children and youth. In the summer of 2010, the first ten participants, aged 8 to 16 and with some kind of Scandinavian connection, produced their own short films in just one week. The participants started out by writing a personal story built on their own experiences as Americans and Scandinavians. Thereafter they wrote a script, recorded a voice-over, collected photographs, moving images, text, illustrations, music, and other audio to illustrate their stories. Finally they produced a digital story, a short film, using the video editing software Windows Moviemaker. The stories, that can be viewed here, as well as on Youtube, provide an updated image of today’s diverse Scandinavia. The films continue to be disseminated to an audience both in the U.S. and Scandinavia through festivals, conferences and screenings. Digital storytelling helps people without backgrounds in filmmaking to produce a short film, a digital story, as a means to build engagement, develop multimedia literacy and emphasize the power of a personal voice. Since young people already work creatively and communicate through media, Scandinavian Stories wanted to meet the children and young people there, on their home field. By using the digital storytelling method, the project was able to build on the participants’ technical skills and understanding of narrative structures from TV, film, and commercials. The Scandinavian Stories workshops were funded by the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation and took place at University Settlement at Houston Street Center on Manhattan's Lower East Side from June 28 to July 2, 2010.
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