Film Katrina

News Links and Media Stories about the Hurricane Katrina Film Project

Film student scholarship winner's film to be screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival The Monterey County Film Commission's first film student scholarship recipient, Estée Blancher, will have her short film, "In My Heart: A Child's Hurricane Katrina Story," screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival, which runs Oct. 2-12 in Mill Valley, Calif.

2008 CSUMB Service Learning Major Award Winners

CSU Media Arts Festival 2006 Posted on Mon, Nov. 06, 2006 montereyherald.com

Estee Blancher, a student at California State University-Monterey Bay, is a finalist in the 16th annual media arts festival. The festival showcases video, film and interactive projects throughout the 23-campus system. There were 222 submissions, with 25 finalists selected across the categories. Estee is among three finalists in the documentary group. Her entry, "Heaven Come Down," looks at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. For information call 562-951-4060, or visit Media Arts Festival

Students to earn credits for volunteering to aid Katrina victims

Louisiana native Estee Blancher will start shooting a documentary next week about Hurricane Katrina's upheaval of her extended family, who are now displaced across the country.

In doing so, she'll work her way toward a college degree at the California State University in Monterey Bay.

Beginning in mid-September, undergraduates at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will get college credit if they volunteer with the American Red Cross. And at UC Berkeley, staff can now be paid for leaving their jobs to assist hurricane victims.

As disaster relief work continues in the storm's wake, universities are not only hosting evacuees, but are now encouraging students to travel to the Gulf Coast, where their flexible schedules may provide crucial overtime to sustained recovery efforts.

"This fits in with my studies," said Blancher, a 29-year-old film student who will earn six credits making her documentary in the next four months. "I couldn't finish my semester and be 100 percent here, anyhow, given everything that's happened. And I've always wanted to document my culture and these stories."

Students at the UC Santa Cruz will also have the chance to join relief efforts directly without falling behind in school. A new program will give sophomores, juniors and seniors a full term's credits for spending 10 weeks working with the Red Cross. The quarter has yet to start, but Mike Rotkin, a lecturer at UCSC's Community Studies Department, said he has already fielded calls from students hoping to sign up.

"They don't want people to write a book Ñ they want people who can row a boat or carry something," said Rotkin, who is also the mayor of Santa Cruz.

The Red Cross will pay to fly students from San Jose to Houston, and then deploy them to shelters throughout the Gulf Coast, said Sandra Leigh, volunteer coordinator for the organization's Santa Cruz County Chapter.

"We're very excited about it. We can certainly use college kids who want to take the training," Leigh said, adding that students can play an important role in rebuilding efforts, as volunteers' initial enthusiasm begins to wane.

While UCSC's program may be the most formal thus far, other universities are encouraging students to work out individual arrangements with their professors or departments to assist in disaster relief work. To encourage campus staff to join humanitarian aid efforts, UC Berkeley announced this week it will grant employees paid administrative leave if they volunteer through official relief agencies such like the Red Cross or the Federal Emergency Management Agency.