Graduating UNCG senior Sydney Vigotov, film maker of the 10-minute short, “Growing Community” about the Edible Garden at the Interactive Resource Center (IRC), earned first prize honors and the audience choice award for her film at UNCG’s Sustainability Shorts Competition held last week.
The film’s message is that the garden grows not only fruits and vegetables, but also important community connections. Vigotov’s lens focuses on the words of hope by garden co-director and UNCG alum, Kathe Latham, PhD. Latham gives praise to the many ways volunteers, young and old, have moved dirt as well as stereotypes of people experiencing homelessness to allow new, sustainable growth to fill in the spaces of our community.
The film was made while Sydney worked in the garden in connection with her participation in the service-learning course, Communication and Community (CST 200). There, she says, she witnessed how powerful communication is when it invites people to contribute their talents and ideas to others in support of a project that benefits all. The film weaves together interviews with IRC staff and volunteers to explain the philosophy behind the garden project that was created in partnership with Transitions Greensboro.
The film is available online for viewing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xe_d96-TLI.
UNCG has maintained a long-time presence with and support of the garden’s development by way of the Office of Leadership and Service-Learning, student groups, and course offerings.
Sydney announced, “I have never entered a film competition before. I am donating both the first place award for $500 & the audience choice award for $100 to the IRC Edible Community Garden program, to fund their future efforts.”
Written by Spoma Jovanovic, Communication Studies Professor