In Reynolds School of Journalism professor Kari Barber&w88 casino games;s documentary film class each fall, students are required to pitch, film and produce a short documentary film within the semester. This semester, however, marked a first for both Barber and the Reynolds School, a partnership withNoticiero M&w88 casino games;vil, the school's bilingual w88 casino games news studio.
Professor Vanessa Vancour, editor ofNoticiero Móvil said Barber approached her after realizing three of her w88 casino games students were previous Noticiero Móvil students.
“So that just kind of happened organically, and it was one of those ‘aha’ moments that Kari and I thought, how could we do more of this?” Vancour said. “How can we as w88 casino games classes and w88 casino games instructors and w88 casino games different organizations find a way to collaborate beyond ‘submit story ideas to me.’?”
Barber agreed. &w88 casino games;What surprised me is it was sort of just a natural thing that emerged, and I think that’s kind of a testament to the way that &w88 casino games;Noticiero Móvil” has impacted our curriculum in our school more broadly.”
Of the four documentaries pitched and produced in Barber’s class, w88 casino games of them were rooted in the Latino community. One of them was actually from a previous story from “Noticiero Móvil.&w88 casino games;
&w88 casino games;I did a video forNoticiero Móvil last year in Vanessa’s Noticiero Móvil class in the fall,” student Karina Gonzalez said. Gonzalez directed &w88 casino games;Más Que Pan,” in which her team followed Guatemalan baker Fausto Salazar and his family who fled to the United States after w88 casino games of his sons were killed.
&w88 casino games;I was originally going to do a story on someone else but that fell through… and then Vanessa was like, hey, you should check out this like Yelp review of this Guatemalan baker here in town,” Gonzalez said.
That Yelp review lead Gonzalez to the Salazar family, and she produced a video for the Noticiero M&w88 casino games;vil Facebook page. The video, whichgarnered 13,000 views, was kept short for social media, but Gonzalez knew she wanted to return to Fausto and his family. “w88 casino games minutes was not enough to tell his whole story,” she said. Gonzalez took the documentary class specifically so she could film a documentary on the Salazar family. Barber supported this wholeheartedly.
&w88 casino games;I always say you should pursue the story that’s pursuing you. It’s that story that won’t let you sleep at night. That’s the story you need to tell because you need that level of commitment and have to love it that much.”
The other of the w88 casino games Latino documentaries, “Reyna Latina,” follows a young Mexican American drag queen by the name of Jorgie Silva. Student Taylor Caldwell, also a previous student of &w88 casino games;Noticiero Móvil,” said the idea came from a broader interest of drag in Reno. As they continued to follow Silva and his journey, it became apparent that they would need to film in Mexico. Silva planned to visit family and perform in Guadalajara.
&w88 casino games;When the opportunity to go to Mexico presented itself,” Caldwell said. &w88 casino games;I spoke with her [Vancour] about teaming up with Noticiero Móvil for the film. Because of Noticiero Móvil’s sponsorship, we were able to make it happen.”
w88 casino games was the first time students have traveled internationally for the documentary class.
&w88 casino games;This was an example of the dean saying, ‘Wow, this really does align with Noticiero Móvil and our bilingual mission, and we have funding that supports this kind of work,’” Vancour said.
w88 casino games organic blending of resources and collaboration inside the Reynolds School is something Vancour and Barber both want to continue.
&w88 casino games;For me, it just feels like such an obvious thing and I love working with her because it’s so easy,” Vancour said.
Barber said it was the students that really prompted this collaboration. &w88 casino games;That’s why this was really nice, that it emerged in a natural way that people were so influenced by their experience with Noticero Móvil, that they brought that into this class and brought in this incredible depth and breadth that we hadn’t had.”
Despite the hard work and time w88 casino games took her team, Gonzalez said the final film was worth w88 casino games.
&w88 casino games;I’m really happy with the result, and I’m really happy that I had a great team,” she said. &w88 casino games;Hearing how loud the applause was…. It was just so rewarding and I’m really happy that people liked the film.”
At December’s Documentary Film Festival, &w88 casino games;Mas Que Pan” took home four awards, including Best Documentary and the Audience Choice Award. Caldwell won Best Director. But the experience of Noticero Móvil and the documentary class working together represented something at the core of the Reynolds School: experimentation, resourceful collaboration and a passion for storytelling.
