In March 2009, Park School students traveled to South Africa with two cinema professors to film the first part of a documentary that explores the national identity of this young, multicultural democracy as it prepares to host the World Cup in 2010.
The film follows the development of Train to 2010, a new play being produced by the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. Park students shot footage of the production and interviewed South Africans about where they thought their country was headed.
Here's a description of the above video from Kyle Kelley '10, one of the students involved.
"The video here was a side project that began during an interview. Our professor was interviewing our tour guide as part of the documentary we were shooting, and she mentioned the national anthem. He asked if she would sing it for us and she nervously obliged.
"I was taking photos during the shoot and noticed that a group of kids were singing along. I asked them if they knew all of the words and they said yes, so afterward we filmed them as well. From that point on we asked every one of our interviewees, as well as other people we met, to sing for us.
"Although not originally part of the documentary we set out to make, it will likely be, at least in part, in the final product. It's a great example of how projects tend to evolve."
