With the National Screen Institute’s Northern Voices pilot program finished up, one student from Thompson talks about what her experience with the program was like.

 

Ten northern Manitoba students took part in the four-week pilot program where they learned to develop storytelling skills across film, TV, and digital media.

 

The Northern Voices program was presented in partnership with University College of the North, and the pilot program took place at the institute's The Pas campus.

 

Tricia Bland says she’s always been interested in helping people, and found storytelling through art and media to be a compelling way to reach out.

 

As one of the main purposes of the program was to help creators produce stories from a northern Manitoba perspective, Bland explains what she decided to write about during the course.

 

"The script that I had wrote, and I think I'm going to keep pursuing, is centered on domestic violence." She adds that she feels this is an issue not just in northern Manitoba, but across Canada.

 

"I had an incident around it, and I got away. One of the instructors actually told me go forward with, since there's another program coming up where the final project is a 10 minute documentary, so I'm applying for that."

 

Bland adds that she is looking for people in and around the Thompson area who’ve had similar experiences and are comfortable in sharing them, as she feels it could help those get out of the situations that they’re in.

 

She says those who are interested in participating in her project can reach her through email at triciabland@outlook.com, by phone at 431-337-2140, or through Facebook.

 

Bland goes on to say she found out about the program through social media, and adds that she hopes the program is brought back soon and made available in Thompson, as there are many people with storytelling potential in the city.

 

Neither NSI or UCN have said whether the proragm would be returning or expanding to other campuses.