A small window into the experience of students from the Benjamin Franklin International School in Barcelona who spent a week near Dakar, Senegal in Mbaye Fall, working in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity.

Conrad Praetzel is responsible for the wonderful music

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Here’s what happens when you show silent films that are nearly 100 years old to some 7-year-olds: they roll on the floor laughing. Chaplin and Keaton. All you need.

Once they catch their breath, give them some toys to use as characters in their own stories with little or no input from outsiders ie “grown-ups”.

The goal was to let them work out their own creative differences, while only gently assisting them with making their own silent movies that made sense to them. Perhaps, to them alone.

Then, we made simple storyboards, title pages and backdrops for their first silent movies.

Each production team of 3 or so rehearsed at least once in front of the camera before we called out “Camera Rolling…” and “ACTION!”

The results are fascinating in each their own way, perhaps even more so as collections, though some do stand on their own quite well [click the image above to watch]

Conrad Praetzel made the wonderful music.