News Detail
Filmmakers Engage Students in Discussion about Diversity in Film
On Tuesday, February 27, guest speakers Laith Kalifeh ’12, Valentina Manzoni and Zach Barne spoke to students about the importance of diversity in film. All three speakers are filmmakers at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Class of 2012 alumnus Laith Kalifeh grew up in Chicago’s Peterson Park neighborhood. As a student at Loyola, he participated in the Hispanic Youth Group (HYG), and he believes diversity groups like HYG have the great potential to make a positive impact on diversity inclusion. When speaking to students, Kalifeh emphasized the importance of representing everyone’s story.
“The speakers emphasized the fact that we each have our own story, our own narrative and that we must create more spaces to share these stories so that we understand each other better,” explains School Counselor Mrs. Sarah Bennett. “They were able to help our students recognize the diversity or lack thereof in the film industry… Many of our students of color spoke about the struggles they encountered with finding film characters who looked like them when they were growing up. They shared that it is only just now that we as a society starting to create more diverse narratives for our younger generations.”
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