Gemmes.org - Reflexion Inspiration Action

“It all begins with the spark to change the world around us…”

“It all begins with the spark to

change the world around us…”

The SPARKS workshops serve to generate meaningful discussions among young people and invite them to reflect both on themselves and on their interactions with society.

These workshops are designed to be organized independently by schools or other organizations that work with young people aged 12-18.

For this purpose, SPARKS has created educational kits, each consisting of:

• One short documentary (inspiring story) to launch the workshop,

• One handbook for educators to guide its implementation,

• A training and follow-up support for the facilitation of the workshops.

The objectives of SPARKS

Inspire participants through stories of young people across the world, in order to widen their understanding of key social issues and of the potential of youth to address them.
Create a safe space for open and constructive conversations amongst youth, where they can practice active listening and further develop a sense of belonging to the group.
Open the minds of participants to diverse social and cultural realities.
Help youth become more aware of their capabilities as individuals and as a group, and the various ways in which they can have a positive impact on society.
Assist participants to take concrete steps for the betterment of their communities.

SPARKS episodes

1 SERIES

SPARKS is a series of short documentaries (between four and five minutes) about lives of inspiring young people around the world. Each episode highlights the personal transformation experienced by a young person during a time of crisis, and how they became agents of change for their community.

5 CONTINENTS

The SPARKS episodes are being filmed in five countries by five female directors.

10 STORIES

The series tells the stories of ten young people, from different social settings, backgrounds and cultures, who have all decided to contribute, in their own way, to a better world. Each episode deals with a different theme.

Why videos?

It is a medium that is very popular with teenagers, especially in short format, and that captures their attention. It is also the best way for young protagonists to tell their own stories, and to connect directly with other young people.

Starting a workshop with a SPARKS episode quickly connects young people to another reality, and allows the discussion to flourish. The positive emotions created by the video become a source of inspiration, and encourage youth to act, withing their own circumstances, for the common good.

Handbooks for educators

Each SPARKS episode is accompanied by a handbook for educators.

USERS

The handbooks are intended for teachers or youth workers who want to use innovative tools. The content of the kits is adapted to young people between 12 and 18 years old.

CONTENT

Each booklet is developed around two main concepts or values in relation to the episode in the kit. The content is designed to generate both personal and collective reflections, both on societal themes and on the positive impact that each individual is capable of. Several tools are used to stimulate these reflections: questions, experiments, group projects, etc.

The themes of the first four educational kits are as follows:

Kit Empathy and Responsibility (available)
Kit Social Justice and Solidarity (available)
Kit Resilience and Collaboration (available)
Kit Identity and Inclusion (available soon)

The kits are available in both English and French.

FORMAT

One handbook allows allows a minimum of four hours of workshop time. It is designed to be easily adaptable to the time available to the workshop facilitator and can be split into several sessions.

Throughout the kit, specific guidance is provided to help set up the workshops and suggest some key ideas to bring out. As a bonus, proposals have been added to transform certain experiences into long-term service projects.

LICENSE & TRAINING

Educators can purchase the SPARKS educational kits through a license agreement with Gemmes. The price of the license depends on the number of students.

The purchase of a SPARKS license also includes a training by the Gemmes team. The training covers the use of the educational kit as well as the creation of the most conducive environment for a SPARKS workshop.

Interested?

For more information, please contact us at:
contact_edu@gemmes.org

The SPARKS team of directors/producers

The SPARKS team of directors/producers is composed of six women who share a united vision of human connection, beauty, community and youth empowerment. This international team brings vast experience, unique talents and keen awareness of contemporary challenges and opportunities to the project. The directors offer a diversity of styles for each episode, while maintaining coherence throughout the series based on their common goal of highlighting positivity and transformation in times of crisis.

Jill Coulon
France
Jill is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and cameraman. She works for television and cinema and leads the SPARKS team of women directors.

Félicia Sobhani
USA
Felicia is an independent cinematographer, documentary filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist with a passion for social transformation.

Allison Swank
South Africa
Allison is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and cinematographer whose work is based on her passion for sharing powerful stories.

Geetika Narang Abbasi
India
Geetika is an independent filmmaker whose films have won awards at international festivals. Climate and societal changes are recurrent themes in her work.

Jeni Lee
Australia
Jeni is a documentary filmmaker. Her productions include animated documentaries, social documentaries, multi-platform projects and community collaborations.

Olivia Cheung
Australia
Olivia is a television producer. She produces short films ranging from documentaries to music videos to global advertising campaigns. She has also worked on television series and feature films. Olivia works with Jeni on the Australian episodes of SPARKS.