Hello there! My name is Sanchez, a junior at the Rhode Island School of Design studying Sculpture. You might have seen me before making drinks at Carr Haus, or catching me at Caffe Nero! I have trouble asking for help, but I’ve been offered a very amazing opportunity at RISD, and I’m looking for support!

This January, for Wintersession, I was offered a seat in RISD’s course for Mexico, titled Experimental Filmmaking as Research: Sensing Transitional Spaces. However, I was unable to obtain a scholarship, which has left me in a tough spot. As a low-income student, I have to rely on financial assistance in order to pursue these opportunities, and to be able to attend would be a dream come true. It currently coincides with my research as a Latina artist. I want to learn how different peoples across Latin America engage with the Land.

I want to be a responsible researcher and storyteller, and there is an incredible and sought-after value to be able to study on the very land you want to learn about! It would be an honor to be able to engage with the professors and artists leading this class. Unfortunately, I only have until midnight on 10/16 to notify the Global office if I’m accepting the seat. I just have a short matter of time to raise the funds for it. Any support is incredibly appreciated! Thank you for taking the time to read this, and if interested, I will attach the course description below for more detail as well as some of my artwork! Thank you so so much!

Course Description:

Transitional spaces are areas that exist between different environments, states, or land uses. Dynamic and liminal, they are shaped by a diverse array of factors, from climate change to gentrification and urban redevelopment. In this 4-week course, students will explore various transitional spaces in Mexico City and its surroundings to create a series of experimental short films that reflect on the evolving nature of these environments, their impact on local communities, and the broader socio environmental phenomena at play. The filmmaking will be overlaid with readings dealing with questions of borders, Third Spaces, human-nonhuman interaction, colonial histories of photography and filmmaking, gentrification as settler

colonialism, capitalist and decolonial ideas of time and space, nature of being, cyborg and other feminist ontologies. We’ll read scholarly articles, fiction, and watch films to cover this broad spectrum and relate it to visualizing liminal spaces.

Locations and themes to be explored include:

- La Condesa Neighborhood: Home of royalty, exiles, and expats

- Parque Ecológico Lago de Texcoco: From runway to greenway

- Iztaccihuatl: Melting glaciers and climate change

- The Cable Car: Changing perspectives of the periphery

- Xochimilco Chinampas: Where water becomes land

Method of Instruction:

Working in teams and guided by faculty and guest artists, students will engage in the complete process of creating an experimental short film, from initial ideation to final screening. The course will feature workshops on video recording, sound recording, video editing, sound design, and color correction. In addition, it integrates a decolonial and feminist framework, explored through curated readings and discussions (refer to readings selections below). Students will explore various sites collaboratively, while each team develops their own film independently. Low-budget and DIY devices will be encouraged as creative tools, allowing students to reflect on the distinctions between cinema as art and cinema as industry. Continuous feedback from faculty and invited critics will support students throughout their creative journey. Additionally, invited artists and filmmakers will share their work, providing valuable insights. The course will include an analysis of experimental, hybrid and art film genres, such as sensory ethnography, docufiction, ethnofiction, video essays, and expanded cinema. Finally, students will present their completed projects in a public screening and will put together a critical essay about their work.

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Again, thank you!!! :)