PORT ANGELES — The public is invited to join the Magic of Cinema, Peninsula College Forks and Peninsula College Library for a free screening of “Minor Differences,” the story of five juvenile offenders in a maximum security lockup.
One screening will be at Peninsula College’s Port Angeles campus, 1501 E. Lauridsen Blvd., at 7 p.m. Thursday in Maier Performance Hall.
On Friday, Oct. 26, Peninsula College Forks will host a screening beginning at 7 p.m. at 481 S. Forks Ave.
After each screening, filmmaker Heather Dew Oaksen will join audience members for a question-and-answer session.
Organizers said Oaksen did not set out to establish long-term relationships with these jailed teens, but that they won her heart and she won theirtrust.
Their stories illustrate their struggle to overcome childhood trauma and incarceration as viewers witness their transformation from boys to men.
Eighteen years ago, Oaksen taught a video production class at Green Hill School, a maximum security prison for juveniles in Chehalis. There, she got to know the young men of “Minor Differences.” At the time, they were boys between the ages of 16 and 19.
In creating their own videos, the boys momentarily shed their labels of “offender” or “gang banger” and revealed themselves to be young people who aspired to stay out of jail and lead satisfying lives. They had hopes for the future.
Oaksen said that despite their youthful mistakes, they were smart, likable individuals, and she kept in contact.
“Minor Differences” is an update on the boys, now men in their mid-30s.
Oaksen said her work alternates between advocacy for others and personal reflection as she finds that each feeds the other with unanticipated outcomes.
In the past 10 years, Oaksen’s projects have ranged from experimental documentaries to three-dimensional, multi-screen video projections in public spaces.
Using film and video to explore the intersection between fact and fiction, Oaksen creates an “encounter” that challenges the viewer to see issues in new ways.
Oaksen holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley and an master’s in urban planning from the University of Oregon.
Oaksen recently retired as a professor at Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, where she had taught video art and film since 1989.
For more information contact Helen Lovejoy at hlovejoy@pencol.edu.
