ELL Film Project Takes Another Step

Adam Bowles, who covered Montville schools for the Bulletin for years, has taken another step in his project to film a documentary about the immigrants to our area.

“A Voice to be Heard – Coming of Age in America,” will be a story of some of the newcomers to Norwich and Montville learning to speak English. Bowles is making the film in Montville High and NFA, and in the homes and lives of the families of some of the students.

The website is part of the new phase of the project, and it is rich with information. It discusses the project, showcases the sponsors (there’s one so far, Dime Bank), introduces the team and has room for comments.

The team is a big part of the new phase of the project. Director of Photography Dustin Schultz, the creative director at The Union Productions, the site says, and works for Gnarly Bay in Rhode Island, Bowles says. He’s worked for CBS and Fox, and on commercials for Nissan, AT&T and Capital One Bank.  Schultz made a three-part series in 2011 about Haiti and the conditions there.

“It’s nice having someone I can go to” with ideas, Bowles says. “It gives consistency.”

Bowles also has assembled an advisory team, which now includes former Rep. Rob Simmons, who speaks fluent Chinese and Vietnamese; and Katharine Allan, a Californian who is co-president of InterpretAmerica, which, according to the website, “provides a national forum for the interpreting profession.”

The third member of the advisory board, Tom Murphy, was the spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Education for decades. He died in January. The site says that he “provided invaluable initial guidance to the project.”

Also on the site is a trailer for the film, and a discussion of the difficulties and the emotional impact of students and their families learning English.

Right now, Bowles is working to raise funds for the project. Dime Bank has signed on with a $500 sponsorship, and Bowles is seeking more help from individuals, groups, organizations and businesses.

Until he raises the money the project needs, he is generally holding back on filming. Now and then, he does some filming, to help the English language learners remain comfortable with him, with the project, with the idea, and to keep the story alive.

Learning English means much more to these immigrants than just learning a new language, the website says, and this is the reason for the film, and what makes it so potentially powerful.

“It’s the message behind the language,” the website says, “telling them who to become. It’s the tension between the messages heard in the home and the messages heard among their new friends. It’s a message that ultimately sheds light on what it means to be an American.”

Editor's note: Bowles is going to start writing soon in the Local Voices area of the Montville Patch!