Workshop: From Memory to Sinema

WORKSHOP

FROM MEMORY TO SINEMA

Saturday, August 22nd | 1:00pm – 4:00pm

$25 | Sustaining Member (with Special Passcode)
$35 | General Registration
Partial scholarships available by request to info@surelsplace.org

The session opens with a two minute excerpt from artist-in-residence al’ikens Plancher’s Boat People proof of concept to show how lived experience can be distilled into cinematic language. Participants then complete a brief written exercise, turning a vivid personal memory into one or two concise sentences. Using pencils, index cards, and colored markers, each participant sketches three images (a beginning, a middle, and an end) that capture the memory’s arc. A group discussion follows on how framing, scale, and negative space shape emotional tone. In the second hour participants refine their panels, add single line captions for dialogue or sound, and place the cards on a communal Story Wall so individual narratives can converse. The final hour is devoted to a walk-through of the wall where each storyteller narrates their sequence and receives guided feedback on clarity, pacing, and sensory detail. Everyone departs with a concise visual blueprint that can seed a short film, graphic narrative, or written vignette while highlighting shared themes of place, identity, and transformation.

Ages 16 and up

Note: “Sinema” is “cinema” in Haitian Creole and al’ikens Plancher’s artistic brand. 

Biography:

al’ikens Plancher is a writer-director from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He began high school at 12 and college at 16, turning away from a possible diplomatic career to pursue his childhood dream of filmmaking and represent his country through his art.

His work spans television and film, including The Chi (Showtime) and Yellowstone (Paramount), and award-winning shorts such as Remnants (HBO Best Short Film), Konpa (Tribeca Film Festival), and Boat People (Oscar®-qualified).

He has spoken at the University of California, Irvine; Florida International University; Florida Atlantic University; and the Latin American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh. His work is supported by Tribeca Studios, SFFILM Rainin Grant, Ragdale, NALIP, the Wolfsonian, Oolite Arts, Third Horizon, Surel’s Place, and is a Creative Capital Awards Finalist.

His other interests are spirituality, relationships, and food.

This programming is supported in part by Creative West and the National Endowment for the Arts.