05/01/2022
Bent Marble
Share
Bent Marble offers documentary filmmaking workshops that foster cross-cultural understanding. We al
Storytelling is a medium through which we can integrate our experiences and make sense of our lives. Through the sharing of our narratives, we are able to better understand each other and greater appreciate our strengths and diversity. With these ideals in mind, Bent Marble offers documentary filmmaking workshops that foster cross-cultural understanding and friendship, through empowering people to
05/01/2022
03/24/2021
The “vaccidemic” is coming! (Goin Viral, episode 4 coming soonish... )
03/17/2021
Goin Viral, Episode 3: The Morning After!
03/16/2021
All hail Queen Corona XIX!! (Goin Viral episode 3 coming soon... )
03/09/2021
Episode 2 of my new webcomic, Goin Viral. Zooming with Mutants!
03/02/2021
Episode One of my new webcomic, Goin Viral! Enjoy:)
02/23/2021
Been working on this webcomic project. Coming soon...
01/18/2019
Well, we made it through another successful year of Bent Marble workshops… thanks largely to your generous support! I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted an update, so let me bring y’all up to speed…
After our three wonderful workshops in Morocco, I headed in mid-July to Lebanon to collaborate with a new organizational partner, LOYAC. LOYAC is a multinational NGO, based in the Middle East, which offers programs promoting professional development and personal growth of youth, with strong values in community outreach and social responsibility. I taught one workshop series with a talented group of young adults at LOYAC’s office in Beirut, Lebanon. Their impressive films ranged in topic, from a family of sheep herders, to promoting women’s rights and empowerment, to the many merits of being a video-gamer! Here is a link to a playlist of the films they made:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6FWElbG7gqA-EabVt7UmBwDSplFmBevl
LOYAC also runs an amazing program, called MobArt, in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon near the Syrian border. MobArt offers arts education to Syrian refugee children, in an effort to help them overcome their traumas as well as to integrate them into the Lebanese community where they now reside. While MobArt typically offer classes in the areas of drama, music, dance, painting, and crafts, Bent Marble was honored to offer their first filmmaking workshops. I taught two groups of amazing kids (one ages 8-10, and the other ages 11-14). Each group worked together, as a team, to produce a short film on a topic of their choice. Have a look now at the powerful works they created:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6FWElbG7gqAtrdvFTHh_aybUxugzLeA7
Unfortunately, during my last week in Lebanon, I got very sick… and was actually bedridden for a couple weeks in Beirut, before being well enough to fly home… to rest for a few more weeks! But by the end of September, I was back on my feet again, and ready and rearing to get down to Medellín, Colombia to continue Bent Marble’s programs.
Of note, Bent Marble had been in Medellín three years earlier. And this time we again collaborated with Medellin’s amazing system of public libraries. This time library coordinator, Eliana Maldonado Cano, arranged for us to teach FOUR workshop series… taught at three different library parks, in various at-risk neighborhoods of the city. One workshop was with an eclectic group of youth, adults, and seniors at Parque Biblioteca Manuel Mejía Vallejo, in the neighborhood of Guayabal (an area known for high levels of drugs and drug abuse). We simultaneously taught two workshops (one to youth and one to seniors) at Parque Biblioteca Fernando Botero, in the neighborhood of San Cristobal (a rather rural area situated high on the valley slope above the city). And a final workshop was taught in conjunction with Soccer Smart (an organization that uses soccer as a platform to teach youth life and leadership skills) at Parque Biblioteca Picacho Con Futuro, in the violence-plagued neighborhood of 12 de Octubre. The films these groups produced ranged in topics from an organization that helps individuals with disabilities, to the history of tango in Medellín, to a famous tree! Please take a look now at the varied works produced by these wonderful people:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6FWElbG7gqAtAgyU_FrcWrhY5dLoppcM
My time in Colombia certainly served as a big and “bueno” finale to Bent Marble’s calendar of workshops for 2018. It was definitely a labor of love… and a lot of work, which couldn’t have been accomplished without all of you kind-hearted and generous donors… as well as Bent Marble’s many like-minded, local organizational partners, workshop co-facilitators, and, of course, our inspired and inspiring workshops participants!
All in all, I facilitated 14 workshop series, in five different countries, educating and inspiring a grand total of 244 new documentary filmmakers! We had students as young as 8 and as old as 78. We worked with kids with cancer in Tanzania…. and child refugees in Lebanon. We taught urban youth in Morocco… as well as seniors from a rural area of Colombia. Clearly the populations we served were diverse… but all had in common the desire to learn how to use the simple, technological tools that nearly all of us possess today, to create films about what matters most to them, and share these stories with the world. And to further help us wrap our heads around all we’ve accomplished together this year, I’ve made a short (3-minute) recap and thank you video (see below).
Well, thank you again so much for your support of Bent Marble in 2018. And I wish you all from the bottom of my heart a fantastic 2019… filled with love, learning, community, connection, and growth in the “story” of your lives. I will definitely be in touch with you, as the story of Bent Marble evolves… and we keep this marble rolling!
Best,
Steve
07/31/2018
Greetings again, valued supporters of Bent Marble!
I’ve recently finished a very busy and productive month in Casablanca, Morocco, where I taught three workshop series in collaboration with three truly wonderful organizational partners. In the process, around 25 new short documentary films were directed and produced, by around 43 new filmmakers! The topics they chose for their films ran the gamut… from traditional music, to the love of football (ahem… soccer), to protecting our environment, to the struggles of finding gainful employment and the benefits of becoming one’s own boss. (There was even one extremely touching film on the unexpected topic of the sadness that some twins face in adulthood, when they become separated as their lives ultimately take diverging paths.) And I find that this diverse array of stories also serves to highlight the many ways in which we are all similar… having related values, facing parallel struggles, and experiencing similar emotional ups and downs.
In terms of the demographics of the workshop participants themselves, I’m proud to report that we had a high percentage of female students in our workshops in Morocco. This is noteworthy because the film industry worldwide has tended to be male-dominated… and we need as many new female filmmaking voices as possible to bring greater balance to this enormously influential storytelling field.
For one of our three workshop series, I teamed up again with Aji Maroc (Association des Jeunes de l’initiative, Morocco), an organization dedicated to youth empowerment, education, and community service, located in the underserved neighborhood of Sbata, Casablanca. AJI Maroc Secretary, (and now very good friend) Mohamed Najjari, took great care of me once again (even including pickup and dropoff at the airport). And we look forward to more projects with him and AJI Maroc in the coming years.
We also teamed up for the first time with EFE-Maroc (Education for Employment, Morocco), the local branch of this multi-national NGO that serves youth throughout North Africa and the Middle East, by providing economic and employment opportunities (mentorship, upskilling, trainings, etc.). I owe an awful lot in particular to Nora Van Baalen, Communication Director of EFE-Maroc, who made sure that the workshop ran smoothly, from the planning phase all the way to graduation. And I look forward to continuing to work with EFE this coming month, with their branch in Jordan.
Our final workshop series was a bit of a bonus one. I had made contact with Boubker Mazoz, the Founder and Executive Director of the IDMAJ Cultural Center (Sidi Moumen Cultural Center) in one of the poorest and most disadvantaged neighborhoods in Casablanca. Visiting the center, I was blown away by the energy and organization of their summer camp program, which serves more than 400 children! As there wasn’t enough time to run a third complete workshop series, Boubker and I decided instead to offer an abridged workshop series, covering the basics of camerawork and video editing. The teenage participants were enthusiastic and inspiring… and I truly hope to return next time to teach the full workshop series with them.
But enough words. We want films! So here are links to the YouTube playlists of the fine films made in Bent Marble’s workshops in Morocco this year. I truly hope you enjoy them! And thanks again for your invaluable help in keeping this marble rolling!!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6FWElbG7gqAe44Xr4IMoQqIgPOxeoMsK
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6FWElbG7gqB3gqQCyVt7U3nc5GgOQTrz
07/30/2018
Just finished a couple great weeks of workshops with young adults in Lebanon together with our wonderful partner LOYAC!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1930563593667955.1073742180.316560675068263&type=1&l=6acdea242a
Steve Clack, founder and General Manager of Bent Marble Film Making, is offering a documentary film making course for LOYACers. Steve is leading participants through the process of making a short, typically 3 to 5-minute, film on a topic from their personal world of experience, over a duration of 2 weeks!
يقدم ستيف كلاك, مؤسس ومدير عام شركة Bent Marble لصناعة الأفلام, دورة إخراج فيلم وثائقي للمشاركين في لوياك.
يقود ستيف المشاركين خلال عملية تصوير فيلم قصير، يتراوح بين 3 و 5 دقائق، حول موضوع من تجاربهم الشخصية، على مدار أسبوعين!
Steve Clack
Bent Marble
LOYAC
Loyac Aden
LOYAC Egypt
LOYAC Jordan
07/30/2018
Having a great experience working on films with Syrian refugee kids, with our great organization partners, LOYAC and Mob-Art!!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1113872025435902.1073741836.843128069176967&type=1&l=eba1ce1a86
Steve Clack, founder and General Manager of Bent Marble Film Making, contributed with Mob-Art by offering a documentary film making course for more than 25 children in 4 days.
Thank you Steve!
ساهم ستيف كلاك, مؤسس ومدير عام شركة Bent Marble لصناعة الأفلام, مع قافلة الفن عبر القيام بدورة صناعة الأفلام الوثائقية لأكثر من 25 طفلًا في 4 أيام.
شكرًا لك ستيف!
Steve Clack
Bent Marble
LOYAC
LOYAC Jordan
Loyac Aden
LOYAC Egypt
LAPA
Want your school to be the top-listed School/college in Horseheads?
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Location
Category
Contact the school
Website
Address
58 Yellow Rock Lane
Horseheads, NY
14845