Appalachian Media Institute
- Description
- Since 1988, the Appalachian Media Institute has provided opportunities for young people from across Central Appalachia to explore their home communities, address local issues, and become thoughtful, engaged citizens through the process of place-based media making. Since our beginning, AMI has worked to train over 300 young people and supported the production of over 200 youth-made media pieces, ranging from profiles of Appalachian artisans, to regional identity, to studies of the economic, environmental and societal impacts of coal mining practices in the region. At the core of our work, we have a strong desire to help uplift the voices of rural youth and guide them in telling their own stories through a lens that they control. The work of AMI youth producers has been heard on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Chicago International Film Festival’s CineYouth Festival, and been recognized with the Coming Up Taller award presented by Hillary Clinton, among other achievements. The Appalachian Media Institute is a project of Appalshop, a multi-media arts and cultural organization located in Letcher County, Kentucky. Appalshop’s mission is to develop effective ways of using media to address the complex issues facing central Appalachia – a declining coal economy, a legacy of environmental damage, high unemployment rates, and poor educational opportunities and attainment.
Projects
Loading...