Although for most of the participants that was the first contact with working on the film, already after the first festival workshop in August 2012, it was clear that these are young people with a lot of talent and artistic excellence. That year „Čips“ was created, five-minute film, which was screened at the final evening of the Mediterranean Film Festival in Široki Brijeg. *

“Working together had a strong impact on all of us, both mentors and students, and we were sure we wanted to continue”, Lucy said, MFF School mentor and coordinator of the film workshops that take place in Široki Brijeg and are supported by the US Embassy in B&H.

A lot has changed since the first workshop, which was also mentored by Midge Costin, two-time Oscar nominee in the category of sound editing and sound effects. The team has become bigger, the technical level of the workshop has got a whole new level, the school is richer with the production of documentary education, and students from the beginning of the whole story today work as mentors and program coordinators, teaching film and media to future generations of storytellers.

“The project has grown remarkably in the past nine years. We couldn’t even imagine that it would develop into what it is today. Each year, we discovered that students wanted to do more, push the boundaries of storytelling, and truly challenge themselves to take risks and bring out stories that are important on the big screen. As educators and mentors, we have a role in creating a safe, transformative space for this. At the same time, the program has really grown in terms of production value and technical levels, as well as in the maturity and complexity of the stories. There is also amazing company and support among students, both on and off the set, as well as throughout the year. They become friends, coworkers and colleague artists and truly accept the collective nature of the program”, Lucy said in the interview for Večernji list and added that in some way her own path into film and media education started when this project was launched.

Namely, in 2012 when the ambassador to the US State Department asked if she would like to come and lead a film workshop for young people at the Mediterranean Film Festival in Široki Brijeg, she immediately accepted the offer although she did not have much mentoring experience. 

“That was a kind of a home coming. That was a chance to come back to the country where I had lived and worked from 2007 to 2010, in Majčino selo, the orphanage for children whose families couldn’t take care of them anymore. There I learned what I consider my most important education - the school of life and love in many ways. It was a safe place where understanding, connection, and differences were accepted. The struggle was advocated there and creativity praised. And most importantly, love was tightly woven into the simplicity of our daily lives. MFF School was an unexpected invitation to grow into an educator and artist, bring my passion for film with these special lessons”, Lucy tells us about her beginnings, and today is media educator and director of the Outside the Lens program, American film camp for youth from San Diego. 

On the day she left Majčino selo in January 2010 to finish her master's degree in film production in the United States, she remembers going out the back door and turning around in tears to take one last look at the place she called home for three years.

“In her sharp tone, one of the nuns I worked with said, ‘My dear, today you walk out that door far better than when you walked in.’

I went to Los Angeles not knowing that I would return many times, not only through those same doors, but towards new horizons, expanding my creative work as a filmmaker and pedagogue in B&H and beyond. Her words stayed with me forever. They are at the core of every community, classroom, and learning environment I enter. It is simple: I hope that both teachers and students come out the door better than they entered. This transformation can take many forms and sizes, but this simple approach remains the north star of my creative process”, she remembers her beginnings. The MFF School has today become a visible expression of this philosophy, but more importantly, its greatest teacher.

“It challenged me to meet the growing needs of different students and mentors, to embrace the ever-evolving camera and production technology, and push the boundaries of film storytelling. It taught me to accept the risk from all sides of the camera and believe in the beauty of the creative process,” she said.

Young film students can find nothing similar to this film workshop, she says, even in the USA, so the opportunity to connect with students from another country and create a short film on a work set with professionals is unique to MFF School. Still, many are wondering, how come children from the USA come to film education in Široki Brijeg?

“Široki Brijeg is the art centre and the perfect location for MFF School.  Meeting other students who are passionate about film, seeing that we have common interests and passions despite cultural and linguistic differences, is a lesson for life. Learning from film professionals, students and community of Široki Brijeg is a huge gift for American students. Here you can see artistic expression at the heart of the community, with different generations expressing their voice and idea through so many different media and types of art. This is truly a special place to gather students and teachers, both from the USA and B&H, because their passion for storytelling really ‘collides’ and new and innovative films are produced every year. They learn about their cultural differences from each others, and the opportunity to connect and collaborate is the one of the best parts of this school”, mentor said.

In the past nine years, as the workshop within this documentary film festival has lasted, a large number of short films have been made, many of which have been awarded at other youth festivals. But still, Lucy says that the emphasis is not so much on the final result as on the creation process itself.

“Through this joint journey, the most important fact is that each of the attendees has their place. For some this is the script writing room, for others shooting, translation or postproduction. We also have students who are dedicated to the organization and do whatever is necessary to meet the needs of the team, from preparing equipment, preparing meals to talking to local business owners for our film locations. Our goal is for everyone to have their place, purpose in the process - and the opportunity to contribute to a collective work that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is the essence of storytelling. In the research we arrive at our destination. Our young people often look for a place that will belong to them, a place to return home. We can create this place for them not only in production and on set, but also in classrooms, social centres and movie screens,” she said.

The enthusiasm of young filmmakers was not interrupted even by the year of the pandemic when they gathered and carried out a virtual workshop.

“We were so happy that our students and mentors created innovative and creative solutions to keep creating with each others in spite of the pandemic obstacles. We sincerely enjoyed watching them create and screen in the midst of this great global event” she said and added that the result was ‘Zoom of Doom’ – virtual film that premiered at the 21 Mediterranean Film Festival. This year, the school is richer for the documentary film program, so the participants of the film school in two separate teams will create a narrative and documentary film. There are no borders, they say. Every voice is important, differences enrich them, and the only thing they have in common is that "everyone must be visible".

“From capturing a moment in photography, to shooting a film that challenges us to see a new perspective, the frame can speak louder than words could ever say. The camera has an immense power. The power of search. The power of finding. The power of telling. We cannot expect to come to communities and tell the stories of others, but we must equip them with technical and artistic skills needed to tell their own truth. I love being part of the MFF School - bringing cameras into the lives of young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina. When we look through the lens together, we can see the world not as it is, but as we imagine it” Lucy said in the end and added that their ultimate goal is to use the creativity and talent as the MFF team to write and produce a feature film or series.